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There are hundreds of companies and individuals out there offering to help you promote your book for a fee. They range from full-blown book marketing companies and pay-to-publish companies with marketing help for their authors to private parties who hang out their shingles in order to earn extra money.

Do you get your money’s worth when you work with an outside marketing agent? That all depends. An author who hires someone to take over the entire responsibility for marketing the book may be disappointed in the results. If you have expectations beyond what the company or individual is capable of or willing to do, you may not see sales increase. Authors who don’t understand much about the process of book promotion, may not be satisfied with the outcome.

The fact is, even if you don’t want a hands-on publishing and marketing experience, you still need to educate yourself about the publishing industry and what it takes to sell books. Without this knowledge, you won’t understand how to go about hiring the right people to help you succeed.

I maintain that the best spokesperson for your book is you. Who knows your book better than you do? Who cares more about it?

If you’re writing a book or you have one you’re trying to market, keep this in mind. Start now studying the publishing industry and learn what your responsibility as a published author is. Come to understand more about the hugely competitive world of book marketing. Then take the reins and create a workable marketing plan and/or hire the right people to help with this task.

If you hire someone in order to shirk your responsibility as marketing manager for your book, you may be surprised. Most of these agents do not take the responsibility from you, they actually give you more to do. Most authors who hire a publicist become extremely busy traveling, making appearances, getting involved in social media and so forth. The only difference between you being your marketing manager and hiring one is that you don’t have the cold-calling and set-up work to do. And you don’t charge yourself large fees.

If this sounds way to daunting…if you are like some hopeful authors and you truly do not want to be bothered when it comes to marketing your wonderful how-to, self-help, informational book, novel or children’s book, for example, you’re probably entering into the wrong business. Reconsider.

Many of you will not heed these words. Countless authors hear them from professionals and ignore them. They are among the nearly 78% of authors who fail every year.

Start your study of the industry by reading Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio. Or order it from the author, Patricia Fry, here: http://www.matilijapress.com

We’re still talking about how to get many reviews for your fiction or nonfiction book. Here are three more ideas:

1: Locate appropriate publications and websites and ask for a review. You probably have magazines in your genre or topic on your own book shelves. Start there. Scan magazines at your local library and bookstores. Study Writer’s Market to find additional magazines related to your book’s theme. Do a Google search to locate even more magazines and newsletters. Here’s a link to one newsletter directory. http://www.newsletteraccess.com.

Likewise, there are hundreds of online review sites. Seek out those related to the theme/genre of your book. Here is an online review directory to get you started: http://www.acqweb.org/bookrev.html

2: Contact appropriate reviewers with your review package. I suggest sending a query/introduction letter or email asking if you can submit your book to them for review. Include some quality promo material related to your book—in particular, a color cover image. Some magazine websites post book review submission guidelines. Adhere to them.

If you are invited to send the book, package it carefully along with your brochure, promo postcard, business cards and a cover letter. In the letter, remind the book reviewer that they requested the book for review. Be sure that your contact information is included.

Most online review sites offer a submissions page. Follow the instructions there.

3: Keep accurate records. Log every review package and book that goes out—when, to whom and be sure to log the contact information.

After two or three weeks, if you have not heard from a reviewer who requested your book, contact him/her and ask if they received the book and when they have it scheduled for review.

Unless your book is seriously obscure, you should be able to land book reviews in dozens of publications. And the book doesn’t have to be hot off the presses. Maybe you neglected to solicit book reviews when the book was fresh. Don’t let that stop you from trying to get some publicity now. Go ahead and contact appropriate book reviewers. If it is a worthwhile book, most of them will say, yes.

How much will this cost you? Absolutely nothing! It is a rare reviewer that will charge for a book review in a magazine or newsletter. Sure, there are book review site where they charge. There are publications devoted to book reviews that charge. But, magazines and newsletters that include a book review section, rarely charge for a book review. They offer them as a service to their audience.

In the meantime, visit my websites: http://www.matilijapress.com  and check out my array of books for authors. Download a free copy of my ebooklet, “How to Establish Your Author Platform.” http://www.patriciafry.com

The reviews for my novels are coming in like crazy. Some are wonderfully flattering, others not so much. A review is just an opinion, after all. It’s a shame when someone publicly reviews a book that is not exactly their cup of tea. Sigh. But it does happen. Asking for a review can be a crap shoot. Check out all three novels from my Klepto Cat Mystery series, Catnapped, Cat-Eye Witness and Sleight of Paw. They’re all on Kindle at Amazon.com. If you love mysteries involving interesting cats—or you’re curious about my novels and don’t have a Kindle, you can purchase Catnapped in print at http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

Today, I’ll share three tips for getting book reviews. Look for more tips tomorrow.

1: Write a book that reviewers will want to review. Now this sounds like a big fat no-brainer, doesn’t it? But think about it. What more could you do to make your book in progress more appealing to reviewers—more appropriate for a larger number of reviewers?

I advise authors to build promotion into their books—in other words, to add wider dimensions to attract a larger audience. This practice will also attract a greater array of reviewers. But also keep in mind your primary audience for the genre or topic you are writing in.

2: Seek out magazine book reviewers. Not every magazine runs book reviews, but many of them do. Editors of some literary magazines and others that publish fiction, review books. Some genre fiction magazine editors publish book reviews—this might include science fiction, romance, horror, young adult and children’s.

Likewise there are hundreds of consumer and association/trade magazines that run book reviews on appropriate books. My book on presenting a Hawaiian luau on the mainland was reviewed in dozens and dozens of cooking and foods magazines. My writing/publishing-related books have been reviewed in numerous writing and publishing magazines and newsletters. There are magazines in every category imaginable—business, child-rearing, pets and animals, public speaking, finance, fitness and health, education, sports, hobby and craft and on and on and on.

Again, the more aspects you have skillfully worked into your novel or nonfiction book, the more potential you have for getting your book reviewed. Here’s an example: Write a book about a run-of-the-mill factory worker and his life after divorce and your book will likely appeal to a relatively narrow audience of reviewers. Add the fact that he (or another character) are dealing with an affliction such as deafness or ALS, for example, and they have a therapy dog that saved someone’s life, and you’ve expanded your options. Now you may get a review in fiction and relationship magazines as well as those related to handicaps, ALS/deafness, therapy dogs and animal heroes.

To find publications and sites where they post reviews, study Writer’s Market and other directories of publications. Do an Internet search to locate directories of book reviewers.

3: Make the most of what you have. Okay, your book is a done deal. How can you maximize your book review options? Get personal with your book. Dissect it and jot down what you find. For example, what city is the story set in? Pursue reviews in regional magazines in that area. Do you have a section in your budgeting book for teaching children money-awareness? Parenting magazines might be a good secondary review option for this book. Is your book clean and honorable? Consider reviews in religious magazines. Maybe your novel has a séance scene. This may provide an opportunity for a review in a metaphysical or New Age publication.

In the meantime, visit my websites: http://www.matilijapress.com  and check out my array of books. Download a free copy of my ebooklet, “How to Establish Your Author Platform.” http://www.patriciafry.com

The reviews for my novels are coming in like crazy. Some are wonderfully flattering, others not so much. A review is just an opinion, after all. It’s a shame when someone publicly reviews a book that is not exactly their cup of tea. Sigh. But it does happen. Asking for a review can be a crap shoot. Check out all three novels from my Klepto Cat Mystery series, Catnapped, Cat-Eye Witness and Sleight of Paw. They’re all on Kindle at Amazon.com

Every author has heard the term Book Review. Many of them consider a book review to be an honor bestowed only on the famous and the lucky.

Some are aware of the pre-publication book reviews, but have been duly warned that these reviewers will NOT review books by unknown authors. Is this your belief?

Okay, let me say that you are right and wrong. I’ve certainly known of the coveted pre-publication reviewers, such as the editors of Kirkus Review and Library Journal, to review books by unknowns. In most cases, it seemed to be because the books were so well suited to the public library system. Think about that when you plan your next book!

As for the rumor that, if you miss out on getting your book reviewed by a pre-publication reviewer, you’ve lost your chances of a review forever—hogwash!

Here’s another myth I’d like to expose: You can get your book reviewed, but you’ll have to pay for it. No, no, no! Well, let me say that there are certainly some review sites cropping up that require payment for reviews, including Kirkus Review, which has a very expensive program for ordinary authors. But I have to tell you, they are not the only reviewers in town!

There are hundreds of FREE book review opportunities for books in all genres and topics.

Hold that thought. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about how to get your book reviewed many times over.

In the meantime, visit my websites: http://www.matilijapress.com  and check out my array of books. Download a free copy of my ebooklet, “How to Establish Your Author Platform.” http://www.patriciafry.com

So what does one do after she has produced and published 2,000 blog posts and 42 books? In my world, she keeps on keeping on. I’ve finished Book number 43 (look for it to debut next month), and this is my 2001^st blog post.

I’m also planning a blog tour to promote my growing number of cozy mysteries. I now have 3 in the Klepto Cat Mystery series published—Catnapped, Cat-Eye Witness and Sleight of Paw. The fourth, Undercover Cat is with the proofreader. The one common word coming from all of the beta-readers so far is, “Excellent!” And most are saying, “The best one, yet!”

I’ve been a stopover point for authors on blog tours before, but this will be my first tour. I plan to post something or be interviewed or have my book reviewed at five blogs devoted to cozy mysteries and/or cats during the week of Valentine’s Day. I’ll release my schedule as soon as I have it set so that you can join in with me for the fun. Yes, there will be prizes and give-aways.

If any of you reading this have done a book tour, I’d love to hear (and share) your stories, your successes, things that didn’t work out and the results of your effort—number of books sold, new clients, etc.

Do you have tips for having a more successful blog book tour? What fun things did you include for your guests? How did you attract visitors? Leave a comment here or email me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com

Tomorrow is the big day. I will virtually release thousands of balloons into cyberspace to celebrate my blogging milestone. I’ve been bringing you information, news and resources about writing, publishing and marketing for over eight years—in fact, 98 months to be exact.

I’m still giving out prizes to those who can guess how many posts I have published during that time. Deadline is tomorrow—January24th, 2014. Leave your guess here as a comment or email me: PLFry620@yahoo.com.

In the meantime, I want to let you know I received my shipment of books from CreateSpace. This is my first time working with them and I have to tell you, it has been a smooth ride and the results are quite satisfactory. I can now hold in my hand, my first novel—Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery. This book has been on Kindle only for several months and now it is also in print. Order here: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

If you’re one of many who have already read Catnapped, then order Cat-Eye Witness. These are cozy mysteries involving interesting, quirky, fun cats.

The Kindle books have been doing great in Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing program. I recommend it for novels. But how am I going to promote the print version of this novel? I have some ideas. Here are 10. Maybe this will give you some ideas for promoting your own novel.

• I’m sending free copies to my staunchest supporters along with a handful of promotional bookmarks. They will talk it up.
• I’ll donate a copy to the local library. It’ll get great visibility.
• I’ll revisit the reviewers of the Kindle version and ask them to let readers know it is now in print. Those who loved it will probably be pleased to do this.
• I may plan a local book signing or two. They’re always fun and productive.
• I’ll take it to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April. I predict I’ll sell dozens just because of the cover alone.
• I’ll promote it at my Catscapades blog http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades
• I’ll promote it at my new Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/KleptoCatMysteries.
• I’ll continue to talk about it wherever I go and hand out bookmarks.
• I’ll place an announcement in my own newsletter and others that I write for.
• I’ll plan a blog tour—I’m most excited about this one!

Whew, that ought to keep me busy for a while. I’ve already sent announcements to my email list. I’ve placed a few announcements in newsletters. I’ve been talking about the book nonstop. And I’ve taken pre-publication orders. I’m sending those out today. I may see if I can get the book in local feed stores and pet shops.

Do you have any additional ideas? I’d love to hear them.

Are you spreading the word about your book using all manner of promotion? Or have you found one that works so well, you’re spending all of your time with it? Either scenario could be the right one for you and for your book.

I generally advise authors to go out and speak, write articles (or stories) for many publications and websites, manage an active Facebook page, post at Twitter, get book reviews, build a great website, send out press releases to appropriate newspapers and other publications, blog regularly, participate in book festivals, do book signings and so forth.

Sometimes an author will discover a goldmine of sales through one or two of the tactics they pursue. In this case, the author should aggressively continue with these activities.

Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to tell which of your efforts is bringing in the sales. If sales are good, you can continue pursuing all of your promotional activities. Or you could slow down on some of them—pouring your energies into just one or two in order to discover which ones are working best.

Just know that no matter what kind of book you publish, if you want to make money or even just break even, you will have to promote it. It will be absolutely necessary to go where your prospective audience is and tell them about your book, whether you do this in person, via the Internet or using the printed page.

In most cases, you’ll also need to explain why they should purchase your book—what benefits will the reader receive from reading your book?

When can you stop promoting your book? I’m afraid the answer is, when you’re ready to let it die. Sure, there are a few exceptions. My local history book, “The Ojai Valley, An Illustrated History,” kept selling steadily over the years through local bookstores, at the museum gift shop and from my website, even after I stopped aggressively promoting it. But it would have sold two or three times the number if I’d continued to go out and speak before civic groups, if I’d pushed for interviews on local radio more often, if I’d requested to be interviewed for additional newspapers throughout the county (maybe state), for example. In my case, I simply made that book available locally while focusing my efforts on books for authors.

I’m Patricia Fry and the following books were compiled from my 40 years in the writing/publishing industry, my experiences as president and now executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) these past 17 years and my observances and experiences working with other authors at writers’ conferences and workshops for 25 years, not to mention tons of research!

Publish Your Book

Promote Your Book

Talk Up Your Book

All available at Amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio and at most other online and downtown bookstores.

Have you made your guess as to the blogging milestone I’m approaching? There are prizes involved. Check the list out in the January 18, 2014 post. This contest ends January 24, 2014.

How tasteless is that? Now wait, that all depends. I attended a memorial service yesterday in a luxurious home in a rather casual, friendly atmosphere and there was some gentle promotion going on. As far as I could tell no one was offended. In fact, it appeared that the people involved in the conversations were most interested.

Some of us were introduced as the author of such-and-such a book or the owner of so-and-so company or a freelancer in some field. This typically initiated inquiries and comments creating opportunities for some of us to talk about what we do. I handed bookmarks featuring two of my novels to a couple of people who expressed interest in my cozy mysteries. Did they scowl and tell me I was insensitive to the occasion and walk away? No! On the contrary, they thanked me profusely for the bookmarks and asked a few more questions about the books and about my writing path, etc.

One gentleman told me about the book he’s writing. He had a few questions regarding publishing, so I shared with him and a few others within hearing distance some publishing and marketing information and suggestions.

As you become more involved with book promotion, you’ll come to realize there are many ways to promote your book and many levels of promotion. I would not walk into a memorial service wearing a tee shirt with the cover of my book blasted on the front of it. Nor would I wear a large button saying, “Ask me about my book.” And I wouldn’t walk around randomly handing out promo pieces. However, I might use those tactics at a casual afternoon class reunion, a family reunion, a large birthday celebration for a friend or community figure, a Chamber of Commerce mixer or a public event, for example.

It would be fun to hear some of your most unusual and/or successful book promotion activities. Send your stories to me at PLFry620@yahoo.com or leave your comment here. I’ll share some of mine tomorrow.

Remember, this is prize give-away week. I listed the prizes in my blog dated January 18, 2014. Guess my next big milestone for this blog to be achieved Friday and win.

Not only will you win prizes by following this blog, you will learn a great deal about writing, publishing and marketing a book.

Yesterday we talked about selling books at book festivals. What are some of the benefits and perks of securing a booth at a book festival?

• It’s a fun and festive atmosphere.
• You get out of the house.
• You have the opportunity to meet new people
• You get to talk about your book.
• You receive feedback from readers and potential readers.
• You get to practice your sales pitch
• You sell books.
• And you get exposure!

What is exposure and why does an author need it? Exposure means flaunting your book so it is noticed—putting it before your audience—making sure your potential readers are aware of it. Without exposure, your book won’t sell. No one will buy it if they don’t’ know it exists. While your mission and your focus might be to sell books, when you’re among your potential readers, there’s something equally important occurring at the same time. In a book festival environment, for example, some people may be buying copies of your book but most others are just learning about it through exposure.

Exposure is an introduction to your book for many of your potential readers. Some may be interested in it, but they don’t buy it on the spot. However, now they know about it, they may think about it, tell others about it and, when they next see it, purchase it.

But you must keep giving your book exposure. The thing is, if the potential reader never sees your book again, after that initial introduction, they may not ever buy it. So it is important that you continue getting exposure at Good Reads, Amazon, by having your book in your local bookstore or specialty store, by going out and speaking about your book, by having it mentioned in appropriate newsletters and websites, for example.

Exposure can result in opportunities to get more exposure. Here’s a list of some of the things I’ve seen occur at book festivals. In some cases, the author may not have sold many books on the spot. But the opportunities that came about as a result of being present were priceless:

• An author met a librarian who believed his book belonged in their county-wide system.
• Authors are invited to speak at various club and organization meetings.
• One author met a teacher who embraced her book and introduced it into a school system.
• One author met a documentary film maker and became the subject of a film. It still airs on the military channel.
• A group of authors in the SPAWN booth one year were invited to appear on a talk radio show.
• I know at least one author who met her publisher at a book festival.

I recommend book festivals for most authors. Along with that, I urge authors to be open not only to on-the-spot sales, but for the opportunities that will present themselves during events such as this.

For many more book marketing and promotion concepts, tips, techniques and ideas, read Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Available in print, Kindle and audio at amazon.com and most other online and downtown bookstores. Or purchase your copy from me, Patricia Fry, at http://www.matilijapress.com