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Or Better Said: Your First Book Won’t Be a Bestseller – Yet
If anyone has earned Bestseller status for a book than it is YOURS. You worked very hard for years on your first novel, invested in a professional editor (who also edits for big trade publishers) and you chose one of the best book cover designers. But your book sales are still disappointing… and your friends are postponing their promised book reviews from week to week. Read More:
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If you ever see Marketing and Advertising from traditional puplishers, it’s for their Bestseller authors only, such as: Advance Book Reviews, posted on their book’s cover, Book Tours and Signings of celebrity authors, media coverage including reviews, speaking engagements, and placing at major bookstores who report to Bestseller lists. How can author-publishers use the methods of global trade publishers to promote their self-published books? You don’t need to travel to the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, like Johannes Kepler did in 1620 – yes, self-publishing was en vogue already four hundred years ago!
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7 Million Self-Published Titles: Stiff Competition
Since 2010 roughly 7 million new self-published books appeared, almost all at online retailer’s websites. And these titles will be offered for many years to come, as most of them are in digital format. The “gold rush” seems to be over and self-publishing has been dropping almost 50% per year, obviously “separating the wheat from the chaff”. You’re not a New York Times bestselling author. You don’t have a publicist. And your Amazon sales numbers are awful. Should you quit writing books? No, absolutely not!
For those of you who want to succeed at self-publishing, use also some traditional marketing methods, create a Business Plan and a Budget, including anywhere from 5-10% for your overall book marketing, including website, paying for IT help, designer, or Google ads.
Traditional publishing uses multiple ways to promote. Self-published authors attempt to market their books to the entire world via Amazon, social media, and their website it seems. Publishers select books in order to stay in business, and also to determine what the publishing house’s identity is. Here’s how you can copy traditional ways to market – adjusted to self-publishing. One step at a time, but continually every day – split in small tasks.
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1. Start Early
Market Research – the very first step to do! An editor will need to make a case that the book fills a market need. And to do that, the publishing house will look carefully at what’s out there. Has the competition a recent publication in this sub-genre? Does it have similar scope? Is it widely available?
Authors, and especially self-publishing authors need to study their competition carefully too: Read their books, study book covers, pricing, reviews, and the marketing of competing books. The most powerful and essential steps you can take toward promoting your book begins long before the actual writing of the book. At least two years before the book is published, start building a network of supporters and reviewers.
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2. Print!
Traditional publishers concentrate on print books, which still make up for about 60% of the book market, depending if you look at book sales numbers or revenue per book. Audio Books: The audio-book market is certainly growing, and Trade Publishers are not only investing in digital (even so it took them a very long time) books, but also in audio-books.
E-book authors might be happy with their sales on Amazon, Apple, Kobo or Barnes & Noble. You might have even turned it into an audio book. But the questions for a “real” book, paper back or hard-cover copy from conservative friends or elderly family members are nagging… And wouldn’t it be nice to walk into a Chapters or Baker & Taylor or one of these rare independent book shops and see your book in the shelf? You will not earn a fortune, not even a living, but for a couple of months it is a nice pocket change. Only months… yes, because longer than this, barely any book will stay in the book store, unless it really is a bestseller and gets re-printed. If you go the indie route and choose for example the POD services and worldwide distribution through Lightning Source, (provided you have at least 3 books to be considered a small publisher) your book is printed on demand and will never get discarded (good: no-return-policy in POD worldwide distribution). See this article How to Distribute Your Book Worldwide.
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3. Book Sales at many outlets
Imagine you could buy all books from Penguin only in one book chain… Publishers distribute their books to as many outlets as possible, to brick-and-mortar stores, independent book sellers, mass markets, online book sellers, even via Affiliate programs.
Authors: Sell your books, e-books and audio-books not only through Amazon, but as well on Barnes&Noble, Apple and Kobo websites, to have your “eggs in more than one basket”. And don’t forget the potentially huge potential market for hardcover books, selling them to libraries all over the country! However, there are way more online retailers for e-books and books than just Apple , Sony, Diesel, Kobo or Barnes & Noble. Sign up with a book distributor / fulfillment company for your print-version of the book. Distributors mostly require just three books to be listed as a publishing business, and if authors have not written three books yet, they can band together with other authors to reach this minimum. Traditional publishers and the books of their authors can be found on Bowker’s global database of books. How to get into “Books in Print”, a worldwide database and to register your book for FREE! with Bowker is the topic of another blog posts.
Books available for future publishers: Aaron Shepard has written two books about the topic of book distribution: POD for Profit and Aiming at Amazon, both contain very detailed information for small publishers. Another great source is Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, a classic publishing guide-book.
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4. Sell books to Libraries
All traditional publishers sell their books to libraries.
According to statistics from the American Library Association and the Book Industry Study Group, libraries yearly purchase books for nearly $2 billion. But not only books, also audio-books and other forms of publications. Around 95% from major publishers. Imagine, you sold your $15 book at a 50% discount to only 10% of these libraries, you will earn more than $75,000. But how can you tap into the lucrative library market? It is explained in detail, including valuable links of wholesale companies who sell to libraries, on SavvyBookWriters here and here.
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5. Book Shows & Fairs
Representation at the applicable trade shows includes bookseller trade shows like the Bookseller Expo America (BEA) or one of the regional bookseller shows, like the New England Booksellers Association, Book Shows for the Library Association (ALA) and certainly the world’s most important, the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany every October.
Which Book Fairs or other Literary Events will you attend in the coming months to present your work? How to organize your participation and how to attract visitors is explained in detail in this blog post, pointing out the do’s and don’ts at book fairs.
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6. Book Signings
An author tour can take various forms. Two weeks of travel, flights from city to city, an author appearance every day, twice a day if possible. Publishers often make their choice on the basis of three factors: if the book can sell in quantity in bookstores; if the book can be reviewed in newspapers, not simply journals; and if the author is presentable.
How you can organize your own book signing is explained in detail, even with a time-table, here on this blog post at SavvyBookWriters.com/blog
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7. Book Clubs
Traditional Book Publishers sometimes sponsor book clubs, or invite them to participate in a contest, such as the one offered by Random House of Canada “Book Clubs are Beautiful”. Members suggests four or five books that they must have read and then the voting and lobbying begins until they’ve got their list. member suggests four or five books that they must have read and then the voting and lobbying begins until they’ve got their list.
Authors on the book clubs list have attended a meeting or contacted them by phone or email. Writers can find easily contact addresses of book clubs via Google. Offer them a free copy of your book, just as big publishers do. Don’t overlook virtual book clubs at Goodreads, Wattpad, Bibliophile etc.
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8. Writing Contests
Many published authors compete in writing contests, and publishing houses sometimes organize contests.
How to Get More Readers from an Award: Publicity around a book award will boost your book sales. Contests are a great way to hone your craft and show the world how much better you are than other writers. Winning a book award for your self-published fiction or nonfiction book is a great way to gain recognition and approval. You will not only see an increase in your book sales – if you market it well – you also can add the award sticker to your cover and mention the achievement on your back cover, in your books’ description, and in all your marketing and promotions – online or offline. 25 Writing Competitions You Should Enter
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9. Content Writing for magazines & newspapers
World-famous bestseller writers from big publishing houses, such as Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, Tom Chiarella, Gloria Steinem and Stephen King did it: Writing occasionally short stories and magazine articles – before blogs became fashionable.
Your book has been launched months ago or even last year. NOW readers need to see something NEW from you. It doesn’t need to be a whole new book:
The three main assets you have already
– your writing skills
– the content you already penned
– the research you have done for your book(s) can be used to write at least 20 – 30 articles or blog posts – and if regularly posted on Google+ it is raising your Search Engine Ranking on Google tremendously.
More benefits of writing content:
– it is a subtle way to promote your book
– you receive valuable back links to your website or blog
– you will have lots of possibilities to post on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook.
– include links to your articles in email newsletter (that you hopefully send out regularly to your readers)
Post these articles on your blog or contribute guest blogs to other sites that are focused on the same topics as your book.
Content is used to draw in your ideal readers / reviewers, it will link to your book sales page or your website and it helps a lot to build a platform. Last but not least it gives you a lot of material to post and to tweet. The result: you will increase your exposure, show your writing skills, grow a loyal following and attract reviewers – in one sentence: you will achieve success with your writing – and in many cases, even get paid for it.
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10. Press Kits on your website
Bestseller authors at traditional publisher have the support of the publisher’s in-house (or out-sourced) publicity department. How much publicity support depends on many factors, but there are the basic elements that a publicity department will likely provide: Book Press Materials. Near publication date, the book’s publicist will email the electronic version of the press kits to a large number of applicable editors and producers to garner interest in the book. Book Media Follow-Up is the next step. The book publicist will follow up with any media outlet that responds to the mailings or e-mailings, will mail additional copies of the finished book, and will make additional calls or emails to other outlets to remind them the book is in their in-box.
To get the word out about the upcoming book launch, to receive positive articles in newspapers., magazine, book blogs, or to get interviews, writers should professionally deal with anyone who could tout their book – not only national press or TV. Don’t make these common errors: Not having a press page on your website for example. Unfortunately most writers are not aware that journalists, bloggers or radio hosts need a bit more information than what they see on your Amazon page. And they won’t just copy and paste your “about the author” or the description of your book on the sales page. Check out Stephen Kings website, see how he organized his page for the media, where journalists can download high-resolution press photos.
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11. Advance Book Reviews in magazines and newspapers
Did you ever wonder why brand new books had already reviews? New author-publishers can learn a lot in book stores: Check out how professionally published books look like: Many of these trade books have either on their back cover (paperback) or on their binding flap (hard cover) several snippets of the book reviews, as well as endorsements from bestselling writers or other professionals, that were already written before the book was printed.
Traditional publishers may budget anywhere from fifty to several hundred “free and review” copies. Advance Review Copies (ARC’s) are what they send out half a year before book launch date.
How these pre-editions Galleys) are produced and to whom they should be sent is explained in How to Get Reviews Before Your Books Launch. Prepare your book review query well in advance and learn what to avoid when pitching to reviewers. Valuable tips can be found at Prestigious Reviews and How to Get Them.
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12. Radio Interviews
Bestseller authors often appear as guest at TV or radio stations. Publicists for major publishing houses have longstanding contacts to their editors and arrange interviews for bestseller authors.
Authors can go the same route, starting with internet radio stations, such as this one: The Book Report. Don’t forget when you plan the marketing of your public events, to announce it for free on Google+ and on Goodreads, use their free Event pages.
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13. Speaking Engagements
Keynote Speakers and Motivational Speakers get handsomely paid, often $10.000 to 15,000 for a two-hour speech! Most celebrity authors, found as speakers, are writing Non-Fiction books.
Speaker agencies, or organizers of Writers Conferences are the best approach if you want to earn more with speaking engagements than with your book. If you are really serious about publicly speaking, join first Toastmasters.com and then the Certified Speaking Professional Association where you can get certification in public speaking.
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14. Foreign Rights
Basic subsidiary rights that publishers contract with their authors include translation into foreign languages, foreign rights, and reprint of selections by other publishers, just to name a few. An American publisher may also license a book to a British house for separate English-language publication in the UK and the Commonwealth
Foreign Rights as well as translations into other languages can be a great way to leverage the value of your manuscript – but don’t expect big numbers right away. Additionally, it will add an international, professional image to you and your books. Revenue will be an advance and approximately 6 – 10% royalty of the retail price, minus percentage for the agent. Try to get the highest advance possible. It’s also a long-term project as it takes around 18 months until the book is translated and finally available online and in bookstores – and another half year for royalties to arrive.
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15. Bookstore Placement
Placement in bookstores, both chain and local (especially bookstores that report numbers to the Bestsellers List) William Germano explains in his book:
Trade publishers’ marketing departments issue all kinds of catalogs to promote books—ones you see and ones you won’t unless you’re a librarian or a bookseller. The trade catalog is a publisher’s principal tool for making sales to bookstores. Publishers with two trade catalogs bring out one per publishing season. The fall season usually begins in September and continues through the winter. The spring season begins in February or March, and continues through the summer. Books to be announced in a catalog must be securely in place at the publishing house up to a year ahead.
For those of you who want to succeed at self-publishing, use also some traditional marketing methods, create a Business Plan and a Budget, including anywhere from 5-10% for your overall book marketing including your website, paying for IT help, designer, or ads.
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16. Placement of books in big box stores
Wandering into a Walmart or Shoppers DrugMart outlet, you will most likely find close to the entrance / cashier desk the shelves of magazines and books, often from Bestseller authors. Big publishing houses sell tons of books to these big box stores – at steep discounts I must add.
If your books are selling like hot cakes, consider selling in bulk too. Book wholesalers or websites such as ChainStoreGuide.com and TheSalesmansGuide.com, provide contact information for hundreds of buyers. You could also visit the websites of your most coveted outlets. Target even maintains a “vendor hotline” to answer questions by phone. However, be aware that having at least a dozen books is the minimum before you approach buyers at big box stores. They will not order single titles. If you have a book that should go into a specific department, for instance Sporting Goods, Electronics, Childrens, etc. contact your local store manager and ask who the buyer is for that specific department.
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17. Book Sales Page
Many big publishers and major online retailers sell from their own website print and digital books – and so can you! How?
Get all the information you need to start selling your books from our former article: How to Sell Your Books From Your Own Website.
Make at least 30% more on your books. Get your revenue immediately and get to know your readers, a very important point for your future marketing and to keep in contact with your customers.
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Conclusion:
This is just a small selection of the many book marketing activities that authors can copy from major publishers – beside Social Media networking. “Just Because You Wrote a Book, Readers Won’t Line Up To Buy It!” Yet, authors who take their publishing endaveor seriously and work as hard on their publishing business as they do on their writing, will always succeed. Read this article regarding the “Book Sales Plateau”.
Find many more detailed tips and links to all aspects of author-publishing and book marketing at SavvyBookWriters, especially how you can act like a professional publisher and take your books to the next level. Remember that you don’t have to do all of this at once!
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
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http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
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First Impression: A great cover!
REMEMBER: You never get a second chance for a first good impression! Your books’ title and its appearance is the first, and perhaps only impression you make on a prospective reader. A great image on your book cover will undoubtedly catch your reader’s imagination, wondering what lies beyond it. A fantastic opportunity to draw readers in.
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Not that an appealing cover means automatically a great book, but a book that is accurately and even interestingly represented by its cover, is more likely to catch the eye of someone who is going to enjoy reading it. Interesting covers are going to get more time on shelf-displays, online and off-line. We are a visual culture; naturally that is going to influence our book-buying habits.
A stunning book cover is one of the best marketing tools for any writer!
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Bali Rai wrote in one of his blogs: ”In 2002, as one of the judges on the Guardian’s Teenage prize, I remember a book called Thursday’s Child by Sonya Hartnett. It’s a simple yet wonderful story of 1930′s Depression-era Australia, and it went on to win the award. However, it was not my choice for winner, simply because I thought the cover illustration would deter people from reading it. It was drab and old-fashioned in my opinion and had I not been reading and judging the book, it would have put me off completely.”
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Here are some points you should discuss with your designer.
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E-books are bought online, usually displayed on a page with many other books. Therefore clarity, simplicity, brightness and information must jump off the screen. A simple and arresting graphic element and bold clear text for the title and the authors’ name must be easy to read on the tiny online image.
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A book that is brilliantly written, but lacks a good quality cover design will remain unnoticed and undiscovered. It is absolutely crucial to have a book cover that grabs the attention of readers and book buyers and shows the heart and the soul of the book in one single image
Read more:
Lousy Book Covers
http://lousybookcovers.tumblr.com/
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“23 Creative Book Cover Designs and their Story” is a showcase of creative book cover designs, indicating the typefaces used for the title or text:
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/creative-book-cover-story
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Joel Friedlander wrote a great blog about brilliant book titles in one of his blogs:
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/06/how-to-write-book-titles-for-people-robotsJoel
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“40 Extraordinary Photoshop Text Effects” shows detailed tutorials, how to create amazing book title effects, step by step and using lots of screen shots.
http://www.problogdesign.com/resources/40-extraordinary-photoshop-text-effects
Fonts for book titles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typeface
http://www.dafont.com/themes.php
http://www.1001freefonts.com
http://www.identifont.com
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,070 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:
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http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
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Today’s interview features author Jerry Gladstone and his very inspiring, upcoming book THE COMMON THREAD of Overcoming Adversity and Living Your Dreams. He shows how successful people are living their dreams and features Academy Award and Grammy Winners, Super Bowl and World Series Champions, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Legends, Best-selling Authors and Billionaires, Olympians, Boxing and UFC World Champions. Having a vision and a plan, working hard, being dedicated and having a network of people, never giving up, being willing to take on whatever comes your way – this is what distinguishes them all – like a “common thread”.
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Author Jerry Gladstone and his wife Brooke
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Jerry, thanks for taking the time for this interview.
How would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?
As an instant motivator not based on theory but rather on the experiences of those who have overcome challenges and obstacles on their journey to success. The book consists of more than 50 well-known celebrities from the world of sports, music, business and other areas.
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Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
The belief that success is not just reserved for some of us, but can and should be for all of us.
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What inspired you to start writing?
The time that I spent with so many well-known people was invaluable and I wished that my friends, family and business associates could have the same experience as I did, gaining wisdom and insight from my conversations with them.
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How did you get the idea for this inspirational book?
My wife Brooke was a great inspiration. We were talking about how some of our friends and people we knew had such great potential, but had a hard time getting out of their own way.
We realized that there was a common way, a common theme, a “Common Thread” of overcoming obstacles and being successful, that ran through the successful people we came in contact with, and we wanted to share with others.
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Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
Self-belief can knock down many barriers.
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Who is your favorite character and why?
I would have to say Sylvester Stallone. I was just 16 years old when Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky hit the theaters. He made me realize that it didn’t matter that I was not the biggest, strongest, smartest or most talented and that with heart, drive and determination, I could accomplish just about anything.
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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
Dan Caldwell, founder and president of TapouT. And also a friend of mine started a little T-shirt company out of the back of his car. Years later he sold it for more them $200 million.
He is a big believe that if he can do it then so can anyone! “If you’re looking to get real strategies to make real productive and positive changes in your life, then ‘The Common Thread’ is a must-read!”
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
Self-belief, overcoming adversity and living your dreams!
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How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
100 percent.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
That it was important to share these stories because as a young man I had many challenges and overcame them by using the same best practices offered in the book.
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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
To write when you are inspired and in the right creative mindset. Also, if you do a little at a time, it adds up.
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process?
Re-living the experiences while writing the book.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
Rule number one has always been and will be forever: don’t beat yourself, don’t get in your own way and don’t come up short due to lack of effort, preparation or self-doubt.
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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
I will tell you that when it comes out!
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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Stallone because he represents how an underdog with a million to one shot can succeed.
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What is the best part of being a writer?
Conveying a message of hope.
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What’s your least favorite?
The grammar!
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What is your favorite book?
A very good friend of mine, Ben Macchia, went through a very difficult time after losing his brother Jamie in a motorcycle accident. Years later I went through a very dark time in my life, Ben sent me this book. I will always be grateful and without question this book, which was first published in 1968, inspired me to keep moving forward: The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
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Where can people learn more about your writing?
http://www.TheCommonThreadBook.com
http://www.thecommonthreadbook.com/SuccessBlog.en.html
Visit and follow Jerry Gladstone at these Social Media sites too:
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Twitter
https://twitter.com/JerryGladstone @JerryGladstone
About.Me http://about.me/JerryGladstone
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrygladstone
Facebook http://on.fb.me/1ooEYpu
GooglePlus http://bit.ly/1svQ7Z7
Pinterest http://bit.ly/1mHgeZR and http://bit.ly/1oLqWzp
Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/123427234@N07/
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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Hired Doris at http://111Publishing.com/Seminars!
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,070 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:
@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
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Today the celebration is primarily for lovers. But, also for your friends. Sending her or him one of these e-books via email from Amazon, let them know how much you enjoy their companionship on Valentine’s Day. Elie Wiesel said: “Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.” Share a great book!
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KENTUCKY RAIN by Jan Scarbrough: Kate is a recently divorced single mom who can’t make it on
her own Amazon.com/dp/B00BXPIENG
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Spannende Kurzgeschichten “mit Herz” von Claudia Westphal: “SCHATTENFRAU”
Amazon.de/dp/B008Y15YYO (auf Deutsch)
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Romantic Suspense novel in the ski mountains of Montana “BURN ON THE WESTERN SLOPE” by
Angela Smith http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DL3ALDE
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He and Jen restart the brief, fiercely passionate affair that he abandoned, to his regret, 20 years ago in Paris … TREASURE OF SAINT-LAZARE http://amzn.to/LjHHmD
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Reviewer: “J.H.Walker has written a cracker of a debut YA novel that begs a sequel.” REWRITE REDEMPTION http://bit.ly/14XqFls
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BETTING ON LOVE: A Bluegrass Romance by Jan Scarbrough
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/betting-on-love-a-bluegrass-romance/
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FRENCH ILLUSIONS: Memoir of an American au-pair for an aristocratic French family
Linda’s fascinating real-life story inside & outside the Loire Château http://bit.ly/18NyiJP
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FIRST KISS by Ann Marie Frohoff – YA Novel – romance of a rock musician and his “groupie”
http://amzn.to/1cEUt6w
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“This book is the definition of a page turner”: TIMELESS – a Gothic Romance by Jan Scarbrough
http://bit.ly/14vZXze
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PAINTER OF THE HEAVENS by Bart Stewart, called “A Novel of Crime and the Heart”.
Penny & Lyle aren’t Bonnie & Clyde, but they become desperadoes in a way…
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F849FMM
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e-Books are great gifts for Valentine’s Day: a fabulous reading experience, no postage or delays and are inexpensive. See more at http://www.e-book-PR.com and http://www.international-ebooks.com
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,010 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:
@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
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Photo Credit FreakingNews.com / Manoftheyear.com
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Editor Mike Zimmerman, who has written more than 50 celebrity cover profiles – wrote about Stephen King’s business success, which is stemming mainly from his prolific writing (50+ books so far), but also his sense of business, shown in his smart dealings with publishers, his early adapting of e-books (chapter after chapter, down-loaded and volunteer-ly paid by his readers – a nightmare for publishers) and the creative, savvy brand he has gained. Yes, and he even sells
t-shirts! Just have a look at his professional website!
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Zimmermann wrote:
“Stephen King is a terrific businessman who leverages his success to broker creative and unusual deals in an industry not known for its flexibility, speed or inventiveness. The ebook revolution, currently in full swing, has the entire book publishing world scrambling to figure out new business models and how, if possible, to preserve the now-ancient art of printing words on paper.”
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Further:
“Over the years, King has always been forward-thinking and daring in his dealings with publishers. He experimented with an online-only ebook, The Plant, way back in 2000 when Kindle was but a gleam in Jeff Bezos’ hard drive. And 14 years ago, when he left Viking to go to S&S, he structured his deal in an unheard-of way, ditching the big advance for a smaller one, but splitting the profits 50/50.
Another bold move, according to The Wall Street Journal, was orchestrated by King’s then-agent Kirby McCauley: Instead of a publisher licensing rights to King’s books for a period lasting up until 70 years beyond the author’s death (the usual publishing boilerplate, assuming the books stay in print), King leases his books to the publisher for a period of 15 years.”
A lot, new writers can learn from Stephen King, read the whole article on http://Success.com
From Stephen King’s Press Release Page
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1973, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine.
Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 50 books and has become one of the world’s most successful writers.
Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.
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One of the greatest benefits of selling your e-book (or paper book) through Amazon is the vast space they provide you to “advertise” your work. If you are a savvy author, take right away advantage of this marvelous opportunity of an author page and insert lots information about your writing and yourself as an author.
Look at it from the standpoint of a reader; which book would you buy: The one that shows just a boring cover, name of the author, and a very short introduction to the book – or the one which has:
So, what can you do to improve your appearance on Amazon and improve book sales? A lot!
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Create an appealing book cover
Rule # 1 for your book cover on Amazon is NEVER to use a white background! White on white is barely visible and your book will not stick out, especially when you chose to have the text in black.
Your book cover should be:
An appealing book cover can be done through the use of software, if you are computer-savvy and creative / artsy – if not, better hire a professional, who is experienced in designing book covers and can provide a portfolio with samples from earlier jobs.
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Write a great editorial review
Write as much about your book as possible and use all the space you get from Amazon:
Set up your Author Page
Helping customers get to know you is an effective way to introduce your books. Information you add on the “Profile” tab in Author Central appears on the Amazon.com Author Page. On the Author Page you can display:
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The Author Page is a good chance to tell readers something interesting about yourself, make sure you include any details about your (writers) background, awards, other books you have written and personal details customers might want to know. Your author photo should be a professional, high-resolution image for quality display.
At the Author Central page on Amazon you get lots of free marketing help. Click the “Profile” tab, where you will see all these sections to add – or to change the information later. It can take several days for the Author Page to appear on the Amazon, so start right now adding content to your Author Page. There are lots of features for you to choose from:
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Get lots of customer reviews
From Amazon’s Tips: “Anyone registered as an Amazon.com customer is entitled to write customer reviews, including fellow authors and journalists. Reader reviews don’t carry across borders, so ask your friends to copy and paste their reviews to all of your Amazon sites (Amazon.uk.co, Amazon.ca, Amazon.fr or Amazon.de for example). Make it easy for them and provide all the direct links to your sites.
Customer reviews are in order from newest to oldest with the exception of “Spotlight Reviews” that are based on how well the review was written and how helpful it was deemed by our customers.”
(Hint: ask your friends to click on “helpful” at the best reviews of your book).
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Create a Book Trailer & Videos:
You can share your book trailer, video interviews, book signing videos or the new Google Search Story trailers with readers. Your video should focus on specific features of your book or your experience as an author. Hire a professional video maker to create your book promotion trailer and upload the video to YouTube and other video sites. To get an overview of the video production process and lots of tips and links for free images, free music and web sites where to upload and how to market your video, read: 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer.
Submit your video or book trailer to your own website, your blog or blogs of your friends, show it often on your Google+, Twitter, or your Goodreads site. Ask all your friends to spread the word and to re-tweet your video link or submit it to their Goodreads friends.
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You might ask why I write here only about Amazon’s author page: Barnes & Noble and Kobo don’t offer author pages! You can click on the authors name, but that brings you only to another sales page, where only the book appears – among a dozen or more books from other authors …
Amazon has more cool features to help an author get found. Use every bit of support you can get from Amazon, join the Kindle Forum to ask questions, get help and support from other authors and on blogs, and your book will be a success!
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.
Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 810 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.
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Lisa Costantino
Lisa Costantino’s novel Maiden’s Veil, winner of the Chanticleer Reviews’ Best Indie Historical Fiction for 2012 award is today’s interview guest. Her book, which receives constantly rave reviews, is not only available in digital form, but also in print.
Lisa, thanks for this interview and congratulations for your award! How would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?
The alternating timelines of Maiden’s Veil entwine the lives of two women coping with love and risk. In 1733, tapestry weaver Clarinda Asher was the last Maiden to perform the Veil before the ancient fertility ritual was banished, and she along with it, for the ensuing cataclysm that nearly destroyed her remote English village. When present-day weaver Jess Barlow unearths evidence of the ritual during the village’s May Day celebrations, she and Owen Calder reenact the rite, resurrecting the ritual’s power. Although she too is banished and Owen ostracized, Jess is determined not to suffer the same fate as Clarinda.
Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
If there’s any message, it’s about forgiveness. Each of the four main characters — Clarinda, Benjamin, Owen, and Jess — is tormented by the blame they have placed on themselves for disastrous events both within and outside of their control. Whether they find forgiveness determines their future.
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Chanticlee Book Reviews
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What inspired you to start writing?
I spent many months during my childhood bedridden from a number of surgeries. When you’re stuck in bed, you read. If you read enough, you want to write.
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How did you get the idea for the novel?
Originally I planned to write a guidebook to Europe’s oldest continuing celebrations and traditions. Finances put that project on hold, but I was inspired to create a fictional story around the events I did attend, ones believed to have pre-Christian origins. So I created Maidenvale’s May Day celebrations out of a conflation of these festivities, and the Maiden’s Veil from historical and anthropological sources.
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Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
If the reader has read Arthurian literature, she or he may recognize an underlying framework based on the Lady of Shalott: the lady Elaine, who is cursed to remain in her tower and weave in isolation for the crime of falling in love with Lancelot.
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Novel Maiden’s Veil
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Who is your favorite character and why?
My favorite character is the most problematic one: Owen, the male lead in the contemporary story line. He’s in love with one woman while unhappily married to another, and it’s tearing him up. To me he epitomizes the emotional struggle between duty and heart. He genuinely wants to do the right thing, but he’s also desperate for some happiness. I feel for the guy.
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Are your plots based on your real-life experiences?
Only to the extent that most writers use moments from their own lives to add authenticity to their stories; in this case, details about England’s May Day festivities gleaned from my own observations and from conversations in the local pubs.
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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
“…like her main female characters, both of whom are artists of the loom, Ms. Costantino has done some expert weaving here herself. The two stories ultimately support and reinforce one another, and all the threads come together in an ending that I found very poignant yet satisfying. With lush evocative descriptions, rich textures, great character development, and some surprising twists and turns, the overall result is a piece of art rather like one of her character’s fine tapestries.”
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author? Another of my favorite reviews got it: “The author weaves stories that are full of tension that resist standard story lines. Rather than common characters and situations, she introduces real-life dilemmas that seem true and honest.” This was especially welcome insight after another reader had bemoaned the lack of heroes. Heroes are for romance. I don’t write romance.
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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?
Always keep going. Don’t let any sticking points render you stuck. Put unresolved issues in the back of your mind and work on what you know. Resolutions to most of my issues arose during long walks with my dog Lucy.
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?
My favorite part is when the story is solid and I can take my time massaging the language until it flows seamlessly. Least favorite? Marketing, I’m afraid to say. I’m a very private person, not at all comfortable with blowing my own horn in the Twittersphere. But you do what you gotta do.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
The Midsummer’s Eve bonfire scenes, because they were the hardest to write. The scenes appear twice, from Clarinda’s viewpoint in one chapter, and from Benjamin’s in another. I wanted them to echo but not reproduce the same imagery and action, nor the same responses from the two characters.
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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
I’d probably make Sharon Calder a bit more sympathetic. But I try not to dwell on it!
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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
Science fiction, for sure. I love the idea of creating an imagined future, but one within the realm of possibility. I’m fascinated by the sciences and would likely have made a career in one discipline or another, had I any aptitude for math. And I’m a Trekkie at heart.
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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Rachel Weisz would be great as Clarinda or Jess. Clive Owen would make an awesome Owen or Benjamin, and I can easily see Brendan Coyle as the farmer Daniel. (Who wouldn’t want a Downton Abbey tie-in?)
How did you get published? Please share your own personal journey.
Impatience, more than anything, led me to self-publish. I went through several cycles of querying agents, and each time I received compliments and positive feedback but no takers. I figured I could continue that game until someone bit, or I could just jump into the self-publishing pool and not wait for representation, a sale, and production, the sum of which would likely take several years.
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Lisa Costantino Facebook
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Always, always, use an editor or a proofreader before submitting or self-publishing. I can’t bear to read self-pubbed authors who say they don’t care about a few typos. That’s lazy thinking, because plenty of their own readers will care. Poor grammar, incorrect punctuation, bad formatting—all this shows not only a lack of skill in your trade but a disregard for your readers.
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What do you find is the best part of being an author?
Having both the motivation and the justification to sit for hours doodling out ideas and doing research.
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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Winning an award for best indie women’s fiction from Chanticleer Book Reviews & Media.
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What’s one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
I’m intensely jealous of scholarly authors who can bang out cogent and insightful non-fiction on politics, the environment, and world affairs. I wish I was that smart!
Where can people learn more about your writing? On my website: www.lisacostantino.com
Read also:
From Corporate Editor to Indie-published Historical Women’s Fiction Author
http://editordevil.blogspot.ca/2013/04/from-corporate-editor-to-indie.html
Follow Lisa Costantino here too:
FB: http://www.facebook.com/#!/LisaCostantinoAuthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lisa_costantino
Google+: http://bit.ly/11nCUk5
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lisacostantino/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=44988916&trk=tab_pro
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar
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Amazon Book Promotion
You have listed your book on Amazon because it is the world’s largest book seller and everyone in the publishing field says you must. Once your book is published on Amazon, do you let it just sit, while waiting for sales? And then you are not making sales to anyone but family and friends. You need to learn “how to work Amazon”!
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Book Sales Increases
Discover how brilliant their book catalog sales pages are structured and how you can promote your book continually and on multiple levels – if you use their free promotion tools. Amazon structured their site for auto-promotion, promotion and more promotion for each and every book.
Unfortunately these automated systems and promotional layers are unknown to many authors. Also unknown is the importance of, and how easy it is, to rank to the top 100 in several high-profile lists, some without even selling one book. But being seen in these lists nearly always generates sales.
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Category Bestseller
Category and subcategory best seller lists were created to highlight an item’s rank in the categories or subcategories where it really stands out. Choose the smaller categories that are more tightly targeted to your subject. This sounds simple but you would be surprised how many authors don’t pay attention to this. One example: instead of placing your book in the Business category choose the smaller, less competitive and more precise sub-category under it, Business-Budgeting.
Why are the proper categories so important? Without the right categories you may never earn a category bestseller, therefore never gain the publicity needed for higher visibility, never be recognized by Amazon’s algorithms which gains you better rankings in the numerous other Amazon top 100 lists, which generates more sales, which gains higher visibility, which gains rankings, which generates more…
Top Rated List
Here is another Amazon top 100 list, where you don’t need to outsell anyone to make the list. You don’t have to sell one book, yet inclusion in this list nearly guarantees sales.
Amazon’s search algorithm finds and tallies the number of reviews for each book and its star rating. The more good reviews your book has the higher up this reader’s choice Top Rated list you go. So be sure to urge all your readers to write a small review on your sales page.
Top Rated – for Kindle books only
The Amazon top rated calculation is based entirely on customer reviews. In addition to average star ratings, the calculation takes into account an item’s total number of reviews and compares it with other items within a category or subcategory. This allows books with strong star ratings across many reviews to outrank items with a better average rating but only a few reviews. The Top Rated calculation also gives less value to older ratings in favor of more recent ratings to ensure that the Top Rated lists highlight items that customers currently think are best.
Customer favorites Top 100 of the year
Customer orders per year are measured by this rating.
Best books of the month
These books are monthly picks of Amazon editors.
Bestsellers in Books
These lists contain the top 100 bestselling book sold by every author in every category combined, and are hourly updated.
Best Books of the Year
Books editors at Amazon read all year, considering every book, “Is this one worth telling people about?” These are the books they have been talking about all year, and have watched customers spread the word about too.
Top Rated – Kindle e-books only
The Amazon Top Rated calculation is based entirely on customer reviews. In addition to average star ratings, the calculation takes into account an item’s total number of reviews and compares it with other items within a category or subcategory. This allows books with strong star ratings across many reviews to outrank items with a better average rating but only a few reviews. The Top Rated calculation gives less value to older ratings in favor of more recent ratings to ensure that the Top Rated lists highlight items that customers currently think are best.
Most Gifted
These lists, updated daily, contain books most often ordered as gifts.
Most Wished For
These lists, updated daily, contain books most often added to Wish Lists and registries.
Amazon created an ingenious marketing engine, in several layers of free and automated publicity, each layer completely unique, and each one reaching millions of readers every minute – but it helps authors only if they use it! Or get their friends, family and social media networks to help them reach top spots in these listings. Read also David Gaughran’s blog about Amazon listings.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar
Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
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Book Pile
Your book has three months to fly off the shelves.
If your book does not sell in the first three months of its bookstore life, it will be remaindered and disappears from bookstores and could end up at “A Buck a Book”. 90 to 95% of books don’t pay back their advance. Royalty will only be paid if the advance is paid back. What you get upfront as an advance is usually all you will ever get.
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If you screw up on your first book, you’re out.
If you do well with it, publishers will be eager to see your next title. But if you don’t sell a lot of books, your agent or publisher will not want to read your manuscript when it comes time to offer your second book.
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Traditional publishing is very slow.
Unless you wrote a political tell-all, your book is going to ”be in the making” for two years or longer until it goes into the bookstores. You need to be sure your topic is timeless and that you will be interested in publicizing it years from now.
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Most likely your book will not be published in foreign countries.
Unless you have a savvy agent (preferably speaking several languages) who is trying to sell your book abroad, there is little chance that your publisher actively tries to find buyers in foreign markets.
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Your advance will be the only money you will see.
You can get as little as $5,000 or as much as $500,000, but either way, you’ll pay 15% of this amount to your agent, and the remainder will be paid in thirds or quarters over the next couple of years. So you first need to “earn out” the advance, before any royalties will be paid to you.
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Publishing is the slowest possible get-rich-quick scheme.
Breaking into big money publishing is like becoming a movie star – being talented definitely helps, but luck plays a big role and the odds might not be in your favor.
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Sorry, no publicity.
Until a decade or two ago, publishers did some marketing for books. Now, in the best case, they might send out some galleys and wait to see if anyone is interested. Then they focus all their publicity on the books they expect to be a bestseller. If you want your book to be a success, YOU will have to do ALL the publicity yourself!
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Books don’t sell themselves, as most writers sooner or later find out – often too late. If you are interested in making money or selling your book for a long time, better consider e-books and self-publishing. But in any way, marketing skills or at least the willingness to learn about marketing and PR to promote your book, are essential for an author.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar
Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
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Denise Deegan Book Signing
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Today’s author interview is with Irish author Denise Deegan, a the bestselling writer of seven contemporary novels, four for adults and three for young adults. She began her writing career with a book of non-fiction. Her books have been published in Ireland, the UK and Commonwealth, USA, Germany, Holland and Korea, for sample: “AND BY THE WAY” a story of a teenager who lost her mother and has no real connection to her rock star-father, became a bestselling Young Adult novel.
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Denise, Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
I like that people take different things from books. Many people have contacted me to say that Alex’s journey in And By The Way has helped them deal with loss.
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What inspired you to start writing?
I was doing a Masters in Public Relations. While conducting the literature review, I realized that a book should have existed that didn’t. I wrote that book. It was a non-fiction book and was published. Then it was like being bitten by a bug. I had to write a novel. I had no peace until I gave up my business to do so.
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How did you get the idea for the novel?
And By The Way is my fifth novel. While brainstorming with an artist friend for a picture book that we thought would be fun to work on together, we came up with the idea of a father who traveled abroad from work, coming home and telling his little girl about the country he’d been to. We both decided that, while educational, it was boring and politically correct. My friend went to the Ladies. While she was gone, a voice came into my head. It was a teenage girl who was giving her father a really hard time. Her voice was angry and sarcastic yet vulnerable. It completely gripped me. I grabbed a serviette and began to write.
I had just finished a two-book deal with Penguin. I was free to do whatever I liked. I decided to follow the voice and see where it lead. It emerged that the reason that Alex, the main character, was angry because her mother had died six months previously and her father had not been there for her. I realized later that the story had come from my subconscious. Triggered by the picture book idea, it was telling me that it’s not always good when a parent isn’t around.
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Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
I do not like morals. But I think my writing is influenced – not deliberately – by my past. I was a nurse. One of the things I learned was to grab life while you have it. Though And By The Way deals with big issues, it is an optimistic book. Alex has to learn to trust that good things will happen again. She has to take a leap of faith.
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Are your characters based on real people?
No, apart from Homer, the golden retriever who doesn’t retrieve. That is our dog.
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Who is your favorite character and why?
I actually have three:
The Rock star – Alex calls her dad ‘The Rock star’ because he is not being a father to her. He means well but cannot handle loss. I like the idea that parents are supposed to know best but sometimes flounder themselves.
The Stylist – Marsha works for The Rockstar. She is adorably ditzy and optimistic. She drives Alex mad, until Alex realises that Marsha is optimistic despite tragedy.
Louis – ah, Louis, my all-time fave. I am a sucker for the bad-boy with a heart.
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Two of Denise Deegan’s YA novels
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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
‘It was such a powerful, emotional, beautiful book, one I loved to pieces and gobbled up as fast as I possibly could. I just can’t wait to read more by Denise Deegan – it was just so freaking amazing!’
Book Addicted Girl
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
Recovering from loss.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
I love to hear teenagers ask how I can get teenage characters so right. I love to hear that the characters are real to them. They are real to me, too.
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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?
Favorite: when the characters take over and write the story. For example, the character, Louis, was not meant to have a big part but he muscled his way in. I love when this happens.
Least favourite: depends on the book. It can be very difficult, for example, when you know that something is not working and you are so close to the book that you can’t see the solution. A good editor is invaluable at times like this. I have been very lucky with The Butterfly Novels. I have an amazing editor.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
There is a sailing scene at the beginning of the book that I love where Alex is trying so hard to hate a guy she fancies. I like all the scenes with Louis (of course). I am particularly fond of the scenes between Alex and her dad when he realizes his mistakes and tries to make things right.
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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
I am writing historical fiction for the first time and loving it.
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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Saoirse Ronan, but perhaps that it too obvious a choice. I’d like some casting agent to surprise me.
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Denise Deegan
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How did you get published? Please share your personal journey.
Firstly, I gave up working. The book was what I most wanted to do and always ended up as the last thing I got to. I became a very angry person. Giving up a business to write a novel was a huge (and some would say mad) step. From the beginning, I treated my writing as a career. I really focused on the book.
When I did that, it became clear that the book I was writing was nothing special. So I stopped writing it. Then came an idea that had not been written before and that is what I wrote.
I did my homework. Sent off the three chapters etc. I expected rejection so went ahead and started writing a second novel for two reasons. One, so the rejection wouldn’t stop me. Two, so that publishers/agents would see that I had more than one book in me.
An agent came back to me and gave me tips on editing – without commitment. I still cannot believe how naive I was back then. I had not edited the book at all. When I started the process, I really got into it. I put the other book on hold and spent six weeks making the first into a much better book. I sent the revised chapters back to three people who had been encouraging in their rejections. They all wanted the book.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Persist. Get better. Persist. Get better. Persist. Get better….
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What do you find is the best part of being an author?
Hearing back from readers who loved the books, who were encouraged by them, changed by them, helped by them or felt newly equipped to help others. It is very special when people thank me for writing a book.
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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Visited schools and gave readings, perhaps?
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What’s one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
What, perhaps, they don’t realize is the extent to which I appreciate them and like to hear from them.
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Where can people learn more about your writing?
www.denisedeegan.com
www.butterflynovels.com
www.goodreads.com/author/show/818841.Denise_Deegan
Amazon.com amzn.to/ZPL0mv
Amazon.co.uk amzn.to/111wlJN
AND BY THE WAY
amazon.com/dp/B009SMWI6K
AND BY THE WAY
Denise Deegan, famous for her Butterfly Novel series has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations consultant, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her short story, Checkout Girl, was inspired by her days carrying out the toughest of all these positions. Denise lives in Dublin with her husband, two teenage kids and their dog, Homer. She can be found at Facebook and Twitter: @denisedeegan
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… or how newspapers don’t tell the whole truth – and not only newspapers, but also book statistic firms, wealthy writers and certain big publishers. Have you ever wondered how some books could reach bestseller status? And how could this be, so short after they are on the market?
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BookScan or BookScam?
But first a statement: Bestseller doesn’t mean it is a terrific book, worth to read. It rather shows a 2-3 week old sales statistic of books that sold well in chain bookstores and at independent booksellers, who are connected in a certain country (e.g. USA or UK) to Nielsen BookScan. Sales of online retailers and book departments at big box stores, such as WalMart, Cosco, or Sam’s are not counted – neither are digital books or audio books, which are neglected by Nielsen BookScan as if they are not existing at all! Seems their book statistic methods are thirty years old and/or they have too tight connections to the big five publishers…
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Jeffrey Trachtenberg from the Wall Street Journal wrote an investigative story: “The Mystery of the Book Sales Spike”: How are some authors landing on the Best-Seller lists? They are buying their way!
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He described books that “hit The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling business titles upon its debut. The following week, sales of the books, written by first-time authors, plunged 99% and fell off the list. A week after selling enough copies to make it onto the Journal’s business best-seller list, more hardcover copies of the book were returned than sold, says book-sales tracker Nielsen BookScan.”
However it was enough to allow authors to put a label on his book: “Best-Seller”. Good for his reputation and a doorway to get speaking and consulting engagements.
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How could these authors reach Best-Seller status?
Well, there are (very expensive) Marketing firms who charge the author ten-thousands of dollars, not only for their services, but to actually BUY their books during a certain week. They advertise this with: “We create campaigns that reach a specific goal”, “On the bestsellers list,” or “100,000 copies sold”…
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Nielsen BookScan who delivers the data of sold books to large newspapers, such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, denies any manipulations and says it prevent its sales data from being manipulated. However the way their stats works and the way the newspapers report it, opens doors wide open to manipulations: it includes quantities bought by corporations or associations either for re-sale or free distribution, and quantities purchased by their authors, regardless of whether the writers intend to re-sell the books, give them away, or use them.
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Even so-called reputable, traditional publishers are involved into this kind of scam.
Read the whole story by Karen Ballum: “How Much Would You Pay to Be a Bestselling Author?” an eye-opener, I promise you!
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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:
@111publishing
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http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
Don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks
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Hyper Smash
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Marketing possibilities for your book sometimes seem to be overwhelming. Use this article to schedule and divide it into small pieces to execute one at a time – make it a habit to work on it every day.
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Let’s assume that you, as a self-publishing author have produced an excellent, high-quality book or e-book and now you are going to publish and to market your book.
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Or take scenario two: you have written the best book and found the best agent possible and she’s made the best deal she can get with the best publisher who’s interested, then you will be surprised to learn about the reality in traditional publishing: Publishers do spend money on advertising, PR and paid placement in bookstores, but they don’t spend the same amount on all books. On average publishers spend less than $2,000 on advertising 90% of their titles—not much to get the word out about your book.
Bookstores will return your unsold books after three months to the publisher, which means almost the end of your book’s “brick & mortar” career. These are the reasons YOU will have to get the word out about your book, no matter if you author-publish or if you go with a big, traditional publisher.
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You certainly have done your homework before you started writing your book:
There are two avenues to market and sell your work, even if you have sold your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Either you:
And then there is 1. the promotional, social part and 2. the “hard-selling” part for your book.
The latter will barely work if you have not laid out the foundation with the first part. Would you likely buy something from an unknown person, no matter if on- or off-line? Remember that your competition in published books is fierce and there are millions published every year. Readers have to be convinced to buy an unfamiliar book from a totally unknown author…
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It will be the same for both, fiction or non-fiction: The foundation for your books’ success is in building a community, a social environment and a platform to introduce yourself and your work to readers. How can you accomplish this, even before your book is finished? It takes a year to make yourself known in the book community, so start early in order to have a successful book launch:
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1. What you can do before your book is ready to go to the beta-reader, copy-editor and final editor:
– Have a professional! photographer taken a portrait to use for your avatar
– Get to know and introduce yourself to potential readers, sign up at Google+
(good for SEO), Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Flickr
– Join several book communities, #1 Goodreads, #2 Wattpad, #3 KindleBoards, BookTalk, Scribd…
– Visit forums in your field, especially if you write non-fiction
– Join HARO (Help a Reporter out) to make yourself a name as an expert in your field
– Start and write regularly (once or twice a week) blog posts
– Create your own (not a free!) author website
– Send your blog articles to newspapers / magazines and even to e-Zines
– Write guest blogs for other bloggers to get your name out
– Write your “elevator pitch” and practice your “elevator speech” for quick pitch
– Start a spread sheet or list with email addresses of potential readers
– Create an email signature & use it for every email you send out
– Print business cards / book marks
– Get an ISBN number and register your copyright
– Register with Bowker to have your book worldwide listed (free)
– Choose the right genre (category) and keywords for your book
– Gather as many reviews as possible and write a compelling blurb
– Research media contacts and prepare Press Releases
– Invite several thousand! people as followers and friends on your social media sites
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2. Plan of action, once your book is edited, has an appealing cover – that’s what people see first, is professionally converted (e-book), or got a perfect layout (print) and is ready to launch:
.– Place your book into the right category / genre and sub-genre (important for its success!)
– Create a second, separate BOOK PAGE on Amazon, Goodreads, Google+ and FB
– Submit your book to the Library of Congress (USA only)
– Set up a media press kit on your website with a link to your book trailer
– Plan and create an email campaign to potential readers
– Get customer orders for special (price) pre-launch sale
– Invite more reviewers for your book
– Submit photos of your book cover image to Pinterest, Flickr…
– Create a slide show and/or video book trailer
– Send copies to book reviewers in various publications and to book bloggers
– Send review copies to book clubs with large distribution
– Automate submissions to and between all your social networks
– Write a blog post about the upcoming launch
– Spruce up your website and blog for your book launch
– Write a compelling press release
– Ask your friends to list your book under “Listmania” on Amazon
– Participate in “Carnival of the Indies” blog carnival to promote your blog URL
– Comment on other blogs and write lots of guest blogs
– Submit your blogs including an URL link to even more e-Zines
– Consider to participate at KDP Select free days, announce your upcoming book for free
– Offer interviews at Radio /TV stations and newspapers or on other blogs
– Try to set you up to become a desirable guest expert on a talk or morning show
– Befriend influential book bloggers for even more reviews and articles
– Donate your book to local libraries and offer to speak
– Contact local bookstores for book signings
– Gather writing friends for cross-promotions and blog tours
– Add press clippings and articles, already published, to your website
– Get a new business card with an image of your book and sales link
– Place the books’ cover image & description daily on your Google+ stream
– Announce your book launch or book signing on Google+ for FREE
– Get even more friends, followers and people in your circles on social media sites
as you need lots of audience to spread the word about your new book!
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What else can you do to increase your books’ success:
– Become a guest speaker at writers conferences or business seminars
– Sell your book to libraries
– Let your book translate in other languages or sell foreign rights
– Split your (non-fiction) book in pieces and sell single articles to magazines
– Participate in writing contests and book awards
The possibilities are endless… Stay tuned for more tips at https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com
Make sure you have done every one of these steps to have a great start once your book is published. Write for pleasure – publish for profit!
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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Follow on Twitter: @111publishing
And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris
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Hyper Smash
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Never Say Sorry Thriller Rose Edmunds
Claudia Knight is a straight-talking, feisty journalist hungry for her first big scoop. When she receives
a tip-off that pharma giant BEP has suppressed a natural cancer cure she’s sceptical, until her
source becomes the victim of a hit-and-run and his proof disappears.
Corporate financier Hugo Fleming likes the good life – but he’s broke. The promotion he
desperately needs hinges on the successful completion of BEP’s bid to take over bio-software
company IDD, run by glamorous and celebrated ethical businesswoman, Julia Fraser. But bulldog
boss Stephanie is breathing down his neck, and somehow Hugo can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
When Claudia and Hugo’s paths cross by chance, they clash and sparks fly. But like it or not, their
fates become entwined as they both hunt for the missing proof. In a search that takes them from
London to New Jersey and Rio, the pair are plunged into a world of mysterious hedge funds, secret
insider trading and unexplained killings. To what lengths will they go to find the truth? And how far
will the dark forces at work go to keep it hidden?
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Length: 364 pages 
Amazon.com:
Kindle Price: $8.99
Paperback $12.64
Amazon.co.uk: £8.99
Available at Waterstones in the UK
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About the author
Rose Edmunds gained a degree in mathematics at the University of Sussex and a doctorate from Cardiff University, before qualifying as a chartered accountant and embarking on a successful career in professional services. She worked for Arthur Andersen and Grant Thornton, before being headhunted to join Deloitte as a partner. After 20 years in the business, she decided to jump off the corporate hamster wheel and focus all her energy on writing commercial thrillers. Her second book is already to be launched this year. Rose Edmunds is a thriller writer who understands how big business and the City (London Business District) works, and who concentrates on the ethical dilemmas that modern commercial life poses.
Read a great article about the author and her book at Economia Magazine
“She’s done the time – now she’s turned to crime”
Read an interview with Rose Edmunds
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Savvy Writers & e-Books online 
Top 12 Blog Posts in 2013
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Approaching 400,000 readers …
We do not only use FavStar – which shows us the most popular and most re-tweeted posts, but also a handful of other online tools e.g. Bit.ly to learn about our most popular / viral going blog articles and at what time they received the most tweets.
Timing of posts and tweets plays a huge factor, as well as the practical value of blog posts for the reader.
Free book marketing tools and Social Media in general seem to get the most readers and responses:
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46 Top Websites to Promote Your Book for FREE
Writing is an Art – Publishing is a Business!
7 Top Reasons for Writers to Be on Goodreads
Twitter or Facebook? What’s Better For Authors?
11 Websites to Find Freelance Writing Jobs
Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?
5 Tips to Improve your Amazon Author Page & Sell More Books
Smart Authors Get Paid for Marketing Their Books!
11 Tips How to Create Web Content WITHOUT even Writing
9 Things Authors Should Never Do on Twitter
99 Top Forums/Blogs to Post Your Book for FREE
Why You Should Have a Print Book Too & POD
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We are very grateful for so many readers, subscribers and comments at our blogs
http://SavvyBookWriters.com and http://SavvyBookWriters.wordpress.com, as well as on http://www.e-book-PR.com and http://www.international-ebooks.com
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.
Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 970 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:
@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+
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Posted by ebooksinternational on January 7, 2014 in Bestsellers, Blogging, Guest Blogs, Social Networks, Website & SEO
Tags: blog comments, blog followers, blog posts, Blogger statistics