12 Tips for Your Professional Amazon Author Page

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Once your book goes live on Amazon you are eligible for an Amazon Author Central Account – and your very own web page on Amazon! Best of all: There is no advertising on your site, up to seven images (of you, your book(s), an “about the author” article and your book’s description. 

Use your Author Central page to provide more information for your readers: upcoming events, a complete listing of your books, more images, and videos, your book trailer and even excerpts from your blog.
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Not only get your Amazon website a very high page rank, Author Central tools are very effective in marketing your books and promoting yourself as an author.

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How to Set Up Your Amazon Author Central Account
Amazon explains: once published, expect to receive an email from Kindle Direct Publishing announcing the news that your book is available for purchase.  They are inviting you to create your Amazon Author Central Account.  Note your book’s ASIN enclosed in the email.  You will need this number to locate your book later and associate it with you as the author.  Follow the instructions to set up your page:

Be the “Face” of Your Book:

1. Add a professional author photo & biography
2. Add all your books
3. Add videos (e.g. trailers for your books)
4. Add up to seven additional photos, e.g. you writing your books or scenes from your book
5. Add images or graphics from your book’s content
6. Add a biography – make sure to update it frequently
7. List events, such as book readings or book launches
8. Add your Twitter address so people can see your latest Tweet and easily follow you
9. Set up the “Search Inside/Look Inside” feature – if it is not already set up
10. Add an RSS feed, linking to your blog – a great way to get your blog in front of new people and encourage them to follow you
11. View and edit the list of books you have written – the Amazon system doesn’t always get it right. If you have written more than one book, it will link your titles together, and allow your readers to find all of your work.
12. Edit your product description and “about the author” section, add any professional reviews/editorial reviews you have had.
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More Features
Track Your Sales – Find out where your sales are happening using the geographic location function and find out your Amazon ranking.
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One of the biggest advantages of an Amazon Kindle published Author is your own web page, complete with a URL, on a powerful Amazon website just for you! Use these links for advertising your books or for blog articles.  If you shorten them, using bit.ly for example, you can double the number of links for your posts.

You need separate accounts, for the UK, CA and US versions of Amazon; You have to do the site for each country separately – however, it is just a matter of copy and paste.  Try to create your foreign country pages in their language.  Either via Google translation or even better, ask a native speaker of the language for which you need the short text.
Use the Amazon Central account for each country.  For example:
Amazon Author Central UK: http://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk
Amazon Author Central US: http://authorcentral.amazon.com
Amazon Author Central Canada: http://authorcentral.amazon.ca
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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 on this blog (there are more than 1,200 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 LinkedIn.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

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100-plus Ways to Promote Your Book for FREE

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You might have read and saved already almost a hundred websites to announce your book for FREE from these reader communities and blogs*:

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/50-web-links-to-let-your-book-go-viral/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/part-2-45-more-websites-to-promote-your-book/

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However, there are even more possibilities to promote your book without incurring costs:

1. Show off your cover image
To submit a cover image of your book including a description / link – if it is an outstanding and creative book cover, show it here for free:

http://pinterest.com/111publishing/books-worth-reading/
http://bookcoversanonymous.blogspot.ca/
http://bookcoverarchive.com/
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2. Use photo-sharing sites to show your cover image
http://Flickr.com
http://500px.com/
http://DeviantArt.com
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3. Participate in a cover image contest
E-book Cover Design Awards by Joel Friedlander, for example this one here: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2013/08/e-book-cover-design-awards-july-2013/
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4. Show your book trailer everywhere
Upload your trailer not only on your website and blog, but also on Goodreads, Amazon, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter and FB, but also on more than twenty major sharing sites, starting with YouTube and TubeMogul. Add a link to each of them on your website or wherever your book is sold.

See also an extensive list of video sharing sites for your book trailer in this guide book:
“111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer”.
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5. Google+ and its communities
There are dozens of reader communities alone on Google+ (for example ours http://bit.ly/VmtVAS) and you can access them from your main Google+ page. On all Google+ sites, images of your book’s cover can be shown, along with lengthy descriptions – several times a day on your own time line, however, on communities better only once in a while, not to be perceived as spammer.
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Don’t forget the Basics!
Use your free author pages, that are provided from Amazon, Goodreads, Pinterest, Google+, FB, LinkedIn, and certainly your own webpage and your blog, where you can show a variety of your book’s cover and images from the content.
Why I mention this?  Too many authors don’t take advantage of these free webpages, they get from online retailers and at their social media sites and where they can show and describe their books to lots of potential readers … 

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* These blog posts are officially copyright registered. To link to our blog posts, and let your own readers know about these websites, please use the RE-BLOG link on top of this page. Thanks! Please learn more about re-blogging here:
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/re-blogging-vs-copyright-infringement/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 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 840+ 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.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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5 Tips to Improve your Amazon Author Page

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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:

• a beautiful, appealing cover
• an all-embracing editorial review
• an interesting authors bio with a portrait
• lots of customer reviews
• a book trailer or interview video

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:

• aesthetically appealing
• targeted to the book’s intended audience
• represent the book’s contents
• use a clean, readable font
• use bold or complementary colors
• use light on dark for dramatic effects
• visit a bookstore to research book cover designs
• test the cover in thumbnail size to make sure it looks good even if it is only one inch high/wide and the title should still be readable

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:

• Editorial Review—350 characters
• From the Author, From the Inside Flap, and From the Back Cover—8000 characters !!!
• About the Author—2000 characters
• See the detailed information on Amazon.
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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:

• books you have written
• biography and up to 8 photos!
• up to 8 videos!
• a calendar of events, such as book signings
• Latest Tweets
• Most Recent Blog Posts

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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:

• Your Profile and your Biography
• Uploading Photos & Videos
• Managing Your Blog Feeds & Your Events
• Uploading Book Images
• Managing Editorial Reviews
• Customer Reviews

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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.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Why Authors Need Lots of Marketing Skills

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Social Media floods the market with content producers, e.g. writers. If you want to make it as a writer, you will have to separate yourself from the crowd so your work can be found and appreciated. Here are some tips for your writing success:
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# 1  is to know the industry
Even after they get a book deal, many authors are surprised to find the majority of the marketing depends on them. Get to know the publishing industry and what kind of writing sells and what can be marketed.  It will save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run. Keep up with what’s hot by reading Writer’s Market, Goodreads or Script. Knowing the publishing field also means knowing what rights you have as an author.
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Make friends with Google+, Pinterest, Twitter and network
As a good writer, you already have the ability to write concise, interesting, and funny prose. It should be a breeze for you to build a following of people that includes literary agents and book editors that could assist you in getting the word out about your work, or even offer you a deal eventually. Don’t use this as a chance to hit them over the head with your book, yet demonstrate what a good writer you are and they will want to read it on their own. Content Marketing!
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Get to know the E-publishing route
For an unknown author, it might be the best way to get your work in front of people.  E-publishing is one way to get your material into a professional, digital format that can be downloaded. Learn how to converse your book – or hire an e-book formatting company to prepare your work for listing on the Kindle, iPad, Sony Reader etc. – but only after it is carefully edited!
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Create your own website & blog
It shows far more professionalism if you have your blog on your own website, or get a self-hostedWordPress.org page.  Consider making chapters of your writing available for free on your site, and don’t sell ads, it just looks plain cheap.  Learn how to operate a digital store.  Paypal is the industry standard for accepting payments, including the major credit cards. And to protect your customers, learn how to use save webpages and procedures (https).
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Maximize your web traffic and sell online
Maximize your visibility on search engines by using clear and accurate keywords in your site title, description, and body. To move up to the top of the search list, you need to have lots of links from other web sites to your page; submit your web pages to various sites that deal with your topic and encourage them to link their readers to you in return of the favor. Tips how to get more inbound-links.
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Create a media kit 
Microsoft Publisher is all you need to make a professional press kit to send out to newspaper- and magazine editors, radio and TV journalists, or agents. Include in your materials the market research you have done to show how many readers could profit from your new book, and include the best bits of material from your work.
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Create a book trailer*
Rent or buy an inexpensive camcorder or just use your laptop webcam. Shoot an introductory video of yourself for your site and your latest book project, or upload a highlight reel to YouTube of key points in your work. Keep it simple.  Read even more how to create a book trailer in my e-book:
111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer, featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, as well as tips how to market your book video.  Available at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO
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Brand yourself as a writer.
Establishing yourself and your writing as a brand involves knowing what your core strength is. Create your “Elevator Pitch”  to convince readers why they should get your book.  Be available for: an interview for a blog or a neighborhood weekly, a “local authors” day at a small bookstore, or even speaking engagements across the country.  It may not be easy first, as being upbeat and on your game at all times requires work. Traditional media outlets like radio and TV are turning more and more towards the new wave of internet writers and bloggers.
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With the tools described here, and using social media, your book marketing doesn’t require any financial investment.  Depending on your level of involvement, it may demand  quite a bit of time commitment, at least in the beginning.  However, as more you use these marketing tools, as faster you can handle them and as more visitors and buyers you will get.
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More about Search Engine Optimization:

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/23-questions-google-is-asking-you/

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/thanks-joel/

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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 785 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.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Autumn Leaves by Barbara Winkes

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What to do when ones whole life turns upside down?
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Autumn Leaves by Barbara Winkes

Rebecca Lowman, married for 16 years, is the mother of two girls, 8 and 14. She is content with her life in the small fictional town of Autumn Leaves.

Callie Bryan who inherited the house across the street from the Lowman family is a single lesbian, a writer who has her own reasons to seek out the peaceful country life: to finish her latest project and to escape a relationship that had turned abusive.

The close friendship that she and Rebecca form becomes continuously complicated when attraction comes into play. Rebecca is bewildered and scared by her feelings, questioning her faith and her life so far.

Callie has sworn to stay away from relationships that could hurt her, but she’s too much in love to care. Before they can come to terms with the changes, the secret comes out, not all of their friends reacting kindly.
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The falling leaves and changing colors signify a gentle but irreversible change. As friendship turns into attraction, denial into awareness, both women deal with a growing pressure from their environment.
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http://www.amazon.com/Autumn-Leaves-ebook/dp/B00A4OIOMS
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http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615727964

Book trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_v_b-EDsic

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About the author:
Barbara Winkes is a psychologist/trauma counselor by training and a writer by choice who moved from a small town in Germany to Québec City where she lives with her wife. She writes romance with the focus on the ‘L’ in GLBT, sometimes crossing over into mystery. Find out more on her blog “Word Affair”

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Part 2: Improve Your Amazon Page

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…  Sell More Books.  In part 1 of “Improve Your Amazon Page” the importance of a great cover that reflects the books content was discussed.  What else can we do to sell more books:
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2. YOUR EDITORIAL REVIEW

Write as much about your book as possible and use all the space you get from Amazon:

• Editorial Review—350 characters
• From the Author, From the Inside Flap, and From the Back Cover—8000 characters
• About the Author—2000 characters (All characters are including spaces, single page in 12 point Arial font is approx. 2100 characters)

See also the detailed information on Amazon
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3. AUTHOR CENTRAL & AUTHOR PAGE

At the Author Central page on Amazon you will receive lots of free marketing help for your book set up your Author Central account if you haven’t already done so. In Author Central, click the “Profile” tab. You will see sections for adding or changing your biography, photos, videos, speaking or other events, and blog feeds. Sections are always available in Author Central, so you can add or change the information later.

It can take 3 to 5 days for the Author Page to appear on the Amazon.com site – so start right now adding content to your Author Page. If you add or make changes later, they will appear on the Author Page within 24 hours of the time you add them in Author Central. There are lots of features for you to choose from – as more you add, as better:

• Your Profile
• Your Biography
• Uploading Photos & Videos
• Managing Your Blog Feeds & Your Events
• Managing Your Bibliography
• Uploading Book Images
• Managing Editorial Reviews

Get all the information at: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help

Uploading Videos: You can share video interviews, book signing videos, and other videos with readers. Your videos should focus on specific features of your books or your experience as an author. If you publish at both, Amazon AND on Barnes&Noble, also use B&N’s video feature: “Interviews, Meet the Writers: Video”.

Create a trailer for more book promotion and upload the video to YouTube, as well as to your own website, your blog or these of your friends, your Facebook site (ask all your friends to spread the word and to re-tweet).
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4. CUSTOMER REVIEWS

Anyone registered as an Amazon.com customer is entitled to write customer reviews. They do not have to buy your book at Amazon, to write a review. 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.

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5. BRING MORE VISITORS

What else can you do, to bring visitors to you your Amazon page and sell more books?

1. Create a direct link from your book to your Amazon book’s page

2. Link from your personal webpage, your email addresses, your blog, Twitter, Facebook etc. to your
book’s page at Amazon.

3. Create a signature with your book link for your email and also for any forums in which you participate. Whenever you write and end with your name, you signature with the direct link is always inviting people to
go to your Amazon book page.

4. You can even put this link to your book’s page on your business card – not only on all social media site, on your email signature or your blog.

5. Join the Kindle Forum to ask questions, get help and support from other authors.
Use every bit of support you can get from Amazon, and also what you find on this blog, and your book – if
writen well – will be a success!

6. Participate in a book cover contest, such as the monthly one at TheBookDesigner.

Doing all this should result in a sharp rise of your book sales.  Let me show you in one of the next posts how your friends and family can help you to improve your ranking on Amazon even more. 

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts (there are more than 560 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, 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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Will Your Book Stand Out Against Millions of Others?

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Next year an estimated ten to fifteen million books will be published. How will you make your book standing out among them? Plus, authors are more and more under pressure from their publishers to promote their own books. 

The good news: Help is on the way – and it doesn’t even cost you anything, other than your time. Nowadays authors have more opportunities to promote their book’s sales than ever before. Social media and the Internet allow authors to communicate directly with their audience.

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5 Tips for Non-Fiction Authors to Sell More Books:
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Start Planning Publicity for Your Book Nine Months in Advance
Just like preparing for a child, the birth of a book needs preparation time. Some authors tend not to think about marketing their book until it’s on Amazon already or in store shelves, which is way too late. Speak about your book, build awareness and excitement; start blogging about it or mention it in your newsletters.

Smart writers are sharing sample content months in advance, collecting testimonials and getting blurbs from other writers and authorities in your field. Don’t assume any publisher will come up with a great marketing strategy. If you are not self-publishing your book, approach your publisher’s marketing team with lots of your own marketing ideas. Think and plan what you can bring to your publishers’ table.

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Never tell someone what your book is about
Rather tell your potential readers what’s in it for them and how it will help them to resolve problems and also overcome obstacles. Non-fiction book authors often get caught up in their idea, but customers only care about the results the book will produce for them. When talking about your book, tell them what is in it for them, share some tid bits from the book and explain: “if you are interested in the rest of this and in other stories, just read my new book.”

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Create a Book Trailer
Any smartphone these days has a built-in high definition video camera, so you don’t have to hire a professional company. You can bring in extra lights, put your smartphone on a tripod, and you can have a video running on YouTube, TubeMogul and other video sharing sites the same day. Create a powerful marketing tool on a budget with a good quality book trailer, and it can go viral really fast. Engage viewers by explaining the reason why the book is an important help for them, explain why they should trust your expertise and which results your book can create for your readers. Video content in web pages or in emails increases click-through rates by NINETY-SIX (96) percent! Find links to tutorials and listings of video sharing sites.

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Don’t Over-Estimate Social Media
Finally, resist the urge to go crazy with social media. Though it provides a good opportunity to reach readers, balance social media with public speaking e.g. at writers conferences, publishing lots of articles or being quoted in the media, or sending out regular newsletters. Sure, to get 5,000 followers or 25,000 email addresses, social media is invaluable. However, when you’re searching for a core group of committed partners for your book launch, a co-author for your next project, or in-depth feedback on your manuscript, your online followers are not your only best bet. Even “shy” or “introverted” authors are often naturals at networking, when placed in the right environment, such as writers conferences.

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Leverage the Power of Free
Giving resources away allows skeptical readers to get enough content to talk about your book – and to make it easy for them to share content with their friends. Sample chapters, quizzes, special reports, and how-to articles are all good giveaway possibilities. If you haven’t yet landed on the radar of most people, you need an entirely different strategy. If this is your first work, give away as many books as you can – but let your readers “pay-with-a-tweet”. Ask your publisher for a lower price on promotional copies and get your words out there.

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As an author of hopefully soon, several books, you are a brand. Start thinking and acting like one, and create a serious marketing strategy.

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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! 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 960 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/

Home

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer

e-book 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer

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Video content in web pages or in emails increases click-through rates by NINETY-SIX (96) percent!  

You might have seen many movie trailers, but did you know that book trailers have the same success rate and that they have the potential to go viral?  Book trailers are one of the best ways to introduce your book to millions of readers worldwide. It will help you to find your audience online.

Learn how to plan, download free software, create and most important market your video from this brand new e-book:  111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer
available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

Book trailers are quickly gaining popularity among publishers and successful authors to help promote books and encourage people to read them.  Similar to a movie trailer, some of them can even have live actors playing parts of the book to catch readers’ interest.

The content can range from quasi power-point-presentation to an animation movie. Trailers with humour or special offers have many more views, same with short one to two-minute videos.  Some are still pictures set to music to tell the mood of the books.  And there are some with the author reading a passage from the book.

Viewers / readers care what experience your book will deliver. Don’t make the mistake to show the whole time the back cover blurb instead of expressing the emotional experience your book conveys.  The viewer should feel the emotions the will feel when they read your book. The more emotional their experience, the higher the likelihood of buying your book. Don’t miss to show also some snippets of reviews.

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Book promotion via trailer:

You have written a superb book that has the potential for a bestseller?  The possibility that internet users click on a short video or slide show is much, much higher than they will read a text description. They will also more likely send a link of your book trailer to their friends or to a social media site – more likely than to copy / paste and send out a text description of your book. An earlier survey found that video content in web pages or emails increased click-through rates by ninety-six (96) percent!

Video engages your audience more than text because it includes sights and sound.  Thanks to the upload-site TubeMogul.com and popular video sharing sites, such as YouTube.com and iTunes, Google Video and Yahoo, which have millions of views per day, publishers and writers can post their trailers for the whole world to see. The key is to create a video that people want to pass on to their friends and connections.

This “how-to” guide book gives you all the information and hands-on tips to produce your own book trailer – or the background knowledge to talk to a video producer and to choose images, text and music for your video.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts (there are more than 520 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, 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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Pingates

 

3 Exciting Video-Tools to Promote Your Book

When promoting your book via videos, you have several options: a conventional book trailer, slide shares or Google’s Search Story Videos.

“Search Stories Video Creator” is one of the coolest YouTube tools. It allows you to make your own “Search Story” and upload it to Youtube.

Type in the seven search queries that make up your story by selecting the type of Google search you would use for each of them – including Google images, Google maps, and standard web search, how you would use to find your own website, blog or your book trailer.

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Just a sample what you could type in these seven search queries:

• Web Search: Keywords someone would use to find your book
• Images: How to find a cover image of your book
• Map: Where your book is happening
• News: Keywords to find your book launch, your book events posted on the web
• Blog: What to type in to find your own blog site
• Books: Where your book can be found
• Product Search: Your book on Amazon for sample
• Story End: You can type in the title of your book and the purchase website.

The video creator will produce an animated spot-through search.  Choose a fitting background music and you have instantly created a free 35-second video that you can use as one of your marketing tools.  After creating this short video, you can upload it to your YouTube account.  With “Search Stories Video Creator” you get a professional quality video – for free. Imagine all of the ways this could be used – business ads, book promotion, for book launches and signings, writers conferences, photo tours …

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHFk8DmOxjA for a tutorial, nothing official.
Here are more samples of tutorials:
http://www.onsip.com/blog/2010/04/13/create-your-own-google-story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Kdlq-OJys
And here is one of the cutest search stories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

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Excerpt from the brand new e-book: ***** 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer ***** featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out previous posts (there are almost 500 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.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr or StumbleUpon – or other social networking sites of your choice) – other writers might also enjoy this blog and find it useful.

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20 Free Music Sites for your Book Trailer

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Excerpt from our new e-book: ***** 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer ***** featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

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Actually, there will be more than 200 tips, but to fit it within a whole series of e-book titles regarding book-promotion and marketing, we will stay with 111 Tips.

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Royalty-free & Public Domain Music are a great way to keep within the budget for your book trailer. Royalty-free means you do not have to pay an ongoing fee while you use their compositions. However, a one-time fee to upload the songs is usually charged. Public Domain music, on the other hand, is totally free.

It shows your appreciation for the artist (and also good manners) to contact them and let them know how you are using their music. A nice gesture would also be to send them your book or let them download a free copy of your e-book. Who knows: He/she might even help you to get the word out for your book trailer & the book?

Quite a few artists offer their music under the Creative Commons License, but it is sometimes hard to find them through all the sites that charge you money to use one song. A few artists allow you to use their music in all commercial productions while others only allow you to use their music in personal productions. Read the license agreement carefully!

Most music is licensed under attribution, which means you should credit the author of the music in your video. You also should include a credit to the composer in your book trailer.

• http://www.audiomicro.com/royalty-free-music/
  
• http://www.mattmcfarland.com/
  
• http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free
  
• http://musicbakery.com/
  
• http://freeplaymusic.com/
  
• http://www.freesoundtrackmusic.com/
  
• http://www.musicbymailcanada.com/CADOWN.html
  
• http://www.pacdv.com/sounds/free-music.html
  
• http://www.musopen.com
  
• http://www.taylorhayward.org/freemusic.htm
  
• http://www.openmusicarchive.org
  
• http://opsound.org
  
• http://sonnyboo.com/music/music.htm
  
• http://www.soundclick.com/business/license_list.cfm
  
• http://vimeo.com/musicstore
  
• http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com
  
• http://www.audiojungle.net
  

You might even use old-fashioned tunes if it fits into your book trailer, music whose copyright expired (in the USA before 1923) and which went into the “Public Domain”.  This kind of music is absolutely free to use:

• http://www.pdinfo.com/Public-Domain-Music-List.php
• http://www.publicdomain4u.com
• http://www.foldedspace.org/weblog/2006/06/in_the_good_old_summertime.html
  

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out previous posts (there are almost 500 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 : )

Follow us on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr or StumbleUpon – or other social networking sites of your choice – other writers might also enjoy this blog and find it useful.  Thanks

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10 Commands to Boost Your YouTube Book Trailer

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A fantastic way to promote your book is with video. These videos are called Book Trailers. Book trailers are very similar to a movie trailer. They serve the same purpose of promoting and peaking interest in your potential audience.

1. Attention span of YouTube users is very low.
1-2 minute videos work best for YouTube. Deliver a short but powerful message. If you have something significant to say, break up the video into 2-5 parts and upload them with unique keyword rich titles.

2. Creating infomovies (videos with slides and voiceover) using PowerPoint:
Make sure that you have a custom unique background for your slides. This custom background can contain your website’s URL on the top or bottom right corner. With this technique you can gain visitors even if your video is embedded on other sites.

3. Screencast videos:
Try to record the screen at 640×360 (16:9) so that the videos do not appear fuzzy. If you can’t do it in 360p, you can make it at 480p (854×480).

4. Use annotations in your video.
Have a specific call to action in the annotation. You can link to subscribe page, channel page, another YouTube video or just ask the visitor to visit your URL for more information.

5. Controversial videos attract a lot of attention on YouTube.
Make sure to provide quality content after you attract the viewers using you controversial title. Visit also: YouTube-trends.Blogspot.com to see the latest trending videos.

6. Leave useful comments in related videos.
If your comments are liked, it will be on top and a lot of visitors will click on your username and land on your channel.

7. Every video you upload is eligible to be a video response to other videos.
Find some related videos in your niche and if appropriate, post a video response using one of your videos.

8. Enter a great title.
By default your channel name is also the title of the channel but you can edit it in “channel settings”.

9. Add link(s) to your website(s).
YouTube allows adding more than one link to your website(s) in your channel’s sidebar.

10. Search for keywords from AdWords Keyword tool.
However, use low competing keywords. You can also enter tags from competing videos so that your videos will appear as related videos when those videos are watched.

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To find free music and images see this former blog: How to Create your Book Trailer?

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/how-to-create-your-book-trailer/ 

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Watch samples of book trailers:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/04/29/7-brilliant-book-trailers/

http://www.book-trailers.net/

http://bookscreening.com/

There are plenty of options to get your book trailer out. Amazon’s Author Central profile pages let you put your video on Amazon, including on your author profile and on specific book pages, which helps you reach people who are already interested in your work.  You can upload your video to YouTube and a dozen other sites, promote it via Facebook and Twitter. Book trailers are still sufficiently new to get people interested. And certainly add the trailer to your website or blog

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Excerpt from the brand new e-book: ***** 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer ***** featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

 

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Submit Your e-Book to Worldwide Online Sellers

Mobile media and cloud computing emerged over the past years and enabled the e-book market to rapidly expand worldwide.  Authors and publishers are transmitting their books more and more to foreign booksellers. These are just a few of the numerous possibilities to submit e-books:

China
http://www.360buy.com

Singapore
www.kinokuniya.com.sg

Malaysia
http://www.mphonline.com

Japan
http://www.amazon.co.jp

Hong Kong
http://www.swindonbooks.com

Australia and New Zealand

http://www.booktopia.com.au

http://www.thenile.com.au

http://www.borders.com.au

http://www.collinsbooks.com.au

http://www.dymocks.com.au

http://www.fishpond.co.nz

Canada

http://www.Amazon.ca

http://www.Chapters.indigo.ca

http://itunes.apple.com/ca

United Kingdom

http://www.amazon.co.uk

www.bookdepository.co.uk

http://www.foyles.co.uk

http://www.kobo.co.uk

http://www.whsmith.co.uk

Germany
http://www.amazon.de

France
http://www.amazon.fr

Italy
http://www.amazon.it

Spain
http://www.amazon.es

Brasil
http://www.kindlestore.com.br

United States
http://www.amazon.com

Worldwide Distribution to 32,000 smaller e-book stores

http://www.ingramcontent.com

 

How to Drive Sales to Online Booksellers
Submit your book to Online Booksellers in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, U.K. and U.S.A.
Online Bookseller sites are incredibly powerful and can have a significant impact on sales. They have become a critical part of the bookselling landscape because:

• They are the first place many readers go for information on a title
• Readers who begin their search for an author, title, or topic with a search engine are often immediately directed to one of a number of global retailers
• Online Booksellers are savvy retailers who provide some fantastic marketing opportunities for authors.

What helps to sell your book at online booksellers

Have lots of reviews.
Don’t underestimate the importance of your product page having positive customer reviews and ask your contacts to write reviews for your book. Customer reviews help convert browsers to buyers and a powerful and free way to market your book and can have a great impact on your sales. Research has shown that online shoppers look at the reader reviews and that they very much affect a reader’s decision to buy a particular title.

Create a book trailer.
Online booksellers prefer to show a video on a product page; it increases book sales and customers are hungry for this sort of content. Video is easy to create and can have a real impact. Focus on giving viewers something new that they wouldn’t know just from reading your book: make them feel like they are getting something extra.

Expect more information on selling e-books and how to submit them worldwide on this blog page. Stay tuned!

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5 Steps to Improve your Amazon Page – and Sell More Books

One of the greatest benefits of selling your e-book (or paper book) at Amazon is the space they provide you to “advertise” your work.  If you are a savvy author, take advantage of this marvelous opportunity and insert lots information about your writing and yourself . 

Look at it from the standpoint of a reader; which e-book or 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:

1. a beautiful, appealing cover
2. an all-embracing editorial review
3. an interesting authors bio with a portrait
4. lots of customer reviews
5. a book trailer or interview video

So, what can you do to improve your appearance on Amazon and improve book sales? A lot!

Appealing 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:

• aesthetically appealing
• targeted to the book’s intended audience
• represent the book’s contents
• use a clean, readable font
• use bold or complementary colors
• use light on dark for dramatic effects
• visit a bookstore to research book cover designs
• test the cover in thumbnail size to make sure it looks good even if it is only one inch high/wide

An appealing book cover can be done through the use of software, such as Bookcoverpro.com, if you are computer-savvy and creative / artsy – or hire a professional at Freelancer,  Elance, Fiverr,  or just get in touch with your local college / graphic design class to find a young and eager cover artist.
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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:
Editorial Review—350 characters
From the Author, From the Inside Flap, and From the Back Cover—8000 characters !!!
About the Author—2000 characters
See the detailed information on Amazon.

 

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:

• books you have written
• biography and up to eight photos!
• up to eight videos!
• feeds to blog posts
• a calendar of events, such as book signings

The Author Page is a good chance to tell readers something interesting about yourself, so 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:

• Your Profile and your Biography
• Uploading Photos & Videos
• Managing Your Blog Feeds & Your Events
• Uploading Book Images
• Managing Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews
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 or Amazon.de).  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 : )

Book Trailer & Videos:
You can share your book trailer, video interviews, book signing videos or the new Google Search Story trailers with readers. Your videos should focus on specific features of your books or your experience as an author. Hire a professional video maker to create your book promotion and upload the video to YouTube and other video sites.

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 FB site (ask all your friends to spread the word and to re-tweet your video link or submit it to their FB friends).

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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How to Create Your Book Trailer

By David Robinson

Trailers are becoming more important in book marketing, and it’s surprising how easy they are to produce. Video software is expensive, but fortunately for our purposes Windows MovieMaker is adequate, and it’s free. I use MovieMaker Live because I run Windows 7. Older packages (XP, Vista) may need earlier versions of the MovieMaker program.

In order to put together your trailer, you need:

• Images
• Captions
• Music or commentary
• Video editing software

See as many book trailers as possible to learn from them and spend some time playing with MovieMaker, familiarising yourself with the menus and the way they work. When you’re happy, add your images one at a time – a process as simple as browsing and importing them.

Images should say something about the book /service you have to offer. It’s surprising how many images you DON’T need. For my latest trailer I used only ten, and one of those was repeated. Yet the trailer runs for one minute and 45 seconds. I interspersed the images with text screens which helped carry the trailer forward. On the MovieMaker menu, these are headed “Title”.

You can apply a caption to each image. Once the photograph is in place, click “add caption” and type your words in. Captions and title screens give hints as to what the reader can expect in the novel.

MovieMaker has a selection of frame transitions, found on the animations tab. It’s one of the last things to do. Select each frame in turn and apply a transition to it. Captions, when they’re overlaid on images, can also have transitions. Play with them, learn what you can do, and make them pleasing on the eye.

As you build your trailer, you will notice that each image/title screen has a default running time of five seconds. Sometimes it’s too long, and at others, it doesn’t seem long enough, so you can adjust the length of each frame. Music is what governs the running time of my frames, and adding music is the hardest part of the process.

You may prefer a single musical track running all the way through. Because I need to create drama, I vary the track and prepare it in advance, using the Audacity Freeware. MovieMaker provides for fade in / fade out on soundtrack, but it’s quite basic.

Whatever you do, don’t use copyrighted music. You may think it is fun to overlay your trailer with the current number one, but you leave yourself wide open to prosecution for copyright infringement. If you use royalty free music, always give credit to the author, e.g. Kevin McLeod

To finish off your trailer add your credits (option on the MovieMaker home screen) and then upload to YouTube. Beyond that, it’s all about letting the world know it’s there. Embed the finished videos into your website and blog, and publicise them through Google+ and Twitter.

Re-blogged, to see all the screen shots and to read more:
http://www.mywritingblog.com/2011/11/how-to-create-video-book-trailer-using.html
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Why Authors Need Marketing Skills – Lots of Them

The advent of social media has only served to flood the market with content producers. If you want to make it as a writer, you will have to separate yourself from the crowd so your work can be appreciated.

Here are 7 tips for your writing success:

# 1  is to know the industry.
Even after they get a book deal, many authors are surprised to find the majority of the marketing depends on them. Get to know the publishing industry and what kind of writing sells and can be marketed and you will save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run. Keep up with what’s hot by reading Writer’s Market, Goodreads or Script. Knowing the publishing field also means knowing what rights you have as an author.

Make friends with Google+ and Twitter and network.
As a good writer, you already have the ability to write concise, interesting, and funny prose. That’s all social media is. It should be a breeze for you to build a following of people that includes literary agents and book editors that can assist you in getting the word out about your work, or offer you a deal if you don’t have one. Don’t use this as a chance to hit them over the head with your book, yet demonstrate what a good writer you are and they will want to read it on their own.

Get to know the E-publishing route.
Do it like the pros do and tap into the e-publishing market, because it works.  And for an unknown like you, it might just be the best way to get your work in front of people. E-publishing is one way to get your material into a professional, digital format that can be downloaded. Learn how to use Adobe Acrobat or similar software – or hire an e-book formatter to have your work listed on the Kindle, iPad, Sony Reader etc. – but only after it is well edited!

Create your own website & blog
It shows far more professionalism if you have your blog on your own website. Purchase a copy of “Teach Yourself Dreamweaver” and download a trial version of Adobe software. Consider making chunks of your writing available for free on your site, and don’t sell ads, it just looks plain cheap.  Know how to operate a digital store.  Paypal is the industry standard for accepting payments, but you’ll also need to make arrangements to accept the major credit cards. And to protect your customers, learn how to use https.

Maximize web traffic and sell online.
Since you don’t have a personal SEO (Search Engine Optimization) employee, you will need to learn how to maximize your visibility on search engines by using clear and accurate keywords in your site title, description, and body. The way to move to the top of the search list is to have lots of other sites linking to your page; submit your web pages to various sites that deal with your topic and encourage them to link their readers to you. Tips how to get more inbound-links.

More about Search Engine Optimization:
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/23-questions-google-is-asking-you/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/thanks-joel/

Create a media kit and videos.*
Microsoft Publisher is all you need to make a professional press kit to send out to newspaper and magazine editors, radio and TV journalists, agents or publishing houses. Include in your materials the market research you have done to show how many readers could profit from your new book, and include the best bits of material from the work. Find the right balance between providing enough pertinent info and overwhelming the audience with data.
Rent or buy an inexpensive camcorder or just use your laptop webcam. Shoot an introductory video  of yourself for your site and your latest book project, or upload a highlight reel to YouTube of key points in your work. Keep it simple. Don’t zoom in and out, don’t use lame screen wipes, and don’t sound like you are reading from a script.

Brand yourself as a writer.
Establishing yourself and your writing as a brand involves knowing what your core strength is. Create your “Elevator Pitch”  to convince readers why they should get your book.  Be available for: an interview for a blog or a neighborhood weekly, a “local authors” day at a small bookstore, or a speaking engagement across the country.  It may not be easy first, but being upbeat and on your game at all times requires work. Traditional media outlets like radio and TV are turning more and more towards the new class of internet writers and bloggers. If a TV show or radio program calls, wanting to interview you, you will need to be prepared to be beamed into millions of homes around the world. Do your homework and watch how other authors and writers handle their interviews.

To get more ideas and inspiration learn about “Book Marketing on a Shoestring” 

With the tools described here, and using social media, your book marketing doesn’t require any financial investment. Depending on your level of involvement, it may demand lots of time commitment, at least in the beginning. Yet, as more you use these marketing tools, as faster you can handle them and as more visitors and buyers you will get.

* Read even more how to create a book trailer in the brand new e-book: ***** 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer ***** featuring valuable tips and links to video tutorials, free music downloads and free images, available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y15YYO

Good luck for your book’s success!

And as always, please comment with even more marketing ideas for your book. Thanks.

 

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