Writing and Publishing News from

It’s been a busy week. I took on an editing job and it has consumed me. I do enjoy editing a good book. But it’s hard to keep up with my everyday commitments, such as this blog, when I’m editing. I don’t like to make authors wait for their edited manuscripts for more than a week if possible and I don’t like to have something hanging around in my office for long. So I generally start soon after I receive a project and complete it within three to seven days—depending on the magnitude of the job.

While I’m editing, I typically set aside my blogs, my social media accounts, my email, book promotion and many of the requests and other materials that come across my desk. I finished a 34-hour editing job yesterday. So today, I’m playing catch-up.

Many of you work full-time or part-time jobs or have a full life of volunteering, family obligations and so forth. You write a book as an aside from your lifestyle. And then you try to promote it within the same brief time allotments you devoted to writing the book. It might be just a few hours a day or a week. My life is organized the other way around. Writing, editing and book promotion are my life. I work-in social and family obligations. And still I find book promotion overwhelmingly taxing, time-consuming and energy-draining.

There are a variety of aspects to the process of book promotion. There is the mindset/attitude, activity options, level of motivation and the action element. I think plan to create blog posts these next few days exploring each of these aspects. Stay tuned. Tomorrow, we’ll go into the attitude and mindset of the author facing book promotion.

I’ve been in a position to observe many authors over time and I can tell you that there is a wide array of thought processes when it comes to promoting their books. The two extremes might be: the author who reads everything he can get his hands on about book promotion even before he writes the book. He attends lectures, joins clubs and organizations where he learns from other authors. He actually begins his marketing program before he produces that book.

At the other end of the spectrum are authors who stay confined to their writing room throughout the writing process and emerge one day with a book and not one iota of knowledge as to the market or the concept of bookselling. Some go so far as to believe their books will sell themselves—all they have to do is write it and produce it.

Two extremes, indeed. Visit this site over the next several days for discussions on book promotion for the bold and the bashful, the informed and the clueless, the energetic and the homebound. In the meantime, learn more about publishing and book promotion through the following books:

Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author
Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author
Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More.

All of these books by Patricia Fry (Allworth Press) are available at Amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio as well as at my website: http://www.matilijapress.com

I’ve enjoyed introducing some of my clients’ publishing projects through this blog over these past several days. There will be more of them featured in coming weeks.

I’ve worked with a variety of authors on an assortment of projects from young adult fantasy to recovery memoirs; from historical adventure stories to books on how-to enhance your relationships; from serious travel books to fun fiction. Writing has been a fascinating, exciting journey for me and my clients have made it even more interesting.

Some of my authors have done well with their books and others have not quite got it together, yet. Some never actually publish their books. Some find a way to publish, but then get bogged down in life and don’t have time or energy to do the promotion necessary. And believe me, promotion IS necessary.

What is promotion, anyway?

1: It’s knowing who your potential readers are—your target audience…Who did you write this book for? Who did you have in mind throughout the writing process?

2: It’s knowing where your potential readers buy books, learn about the books they choose to read—where they hang out?

3: It’s knowing how to approach your readers—what prompts or entices them to consider your book over all the others? What can you do to get their attention?

A key to book promotion is exposure. So many authors, when I quiz them about their promotional attempts, say, “I have a website,” but I’m not selling many books there. Or they say, “Yes, I’m promoting my book on Facebook.” Or “I paid for a press release service to do a mailing.” And they believe that’s all they need to do. If only it were that easy…

It takes being everywhere your potential readers are and not just once. We’re all being constantly bombarded by strong marketing campaigns on TV, on the Internet, in our email, on the radio, in our mailboxes. We have so much coming at us all the time that we tend to tune a lot of it out. Sometimes we notice a product we want to try or a book that sounds interesting, but we don’t act on it because we’re distracted or busy or not feeling financially flush at the time. You know from experience that you might not make a purchase until you’ve seen the item advertised or mentioned or recommended three, five or more times. Isn’t that right?

Successful book promotion is not a one-shot deal. You cannot expect to sell numbers of books by simply building a website. You must promote that website far and wide, have a presence at some of the social media sites, go out and mingle with—even speak before—your audience, reserve booths at book festivals and other events conducive to books or the particular theme of your book, for example.

Some authors believe that they will sell books to a high percentage of the people who are aware of it. Not necessarily. You can usually sell more copies of your book in person. Let’s say that your book is a guide to hiking trails throughout a particular region and you speak before a group of 100 hikers living in that area. If you come across as credible in your presentation, you may sell as many as 15 or 20 books. The percentage of books sold will go down considerably when you speak to the Rotary Club or Kiwanis, for example, where only 5 of the 30 people are even remotely interested in hiking. So what percentage of books will you sell through your website, press releases and social media sites? You may actually reach thousands of people and sell just a handful of books. It takes a lot more to sell books when your personality isn’t involved.

Keep promoting through these means, however and come up with additional methods of getting exposure through online and downtown bookstores, other hiking/travel websites, your blog, other blogs, an informational newsletter, spin-off booklets focusing on other aspects of hiking, etc. and your sales will increase.

• Book promotion is ongoing for as long as you want to sell your book.
• Books need exposure—lots of it.

For additional information about book promotion, be sure to order my book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. To discover methods of locating and creating speaking opportunities and for tips on how to enhance your presentations, order Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public, Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More. Both books are at Amazon in print, Kindle and audio as well as at most other online and downtown bookstores.

Sign up for my bi-monthly enewsletter, Publishing/Marketing News and Views http://www.patriciafry.com

Yesterday, we talked about the cost of publishing and the importance of hiring certain services along the way. Today, let’s consider your role as the promoter of your book. Should you hire a publicist or buy into the marketing plans offered by your publishing service?

I urge my clients to take as much responsibility as they can for the marketing of their books. As I often say, “No one knows your book like you do and no one cares about it as much as you do.” You are the ideal marketing agent for your book. By the time you finish writing your book, you should know who your audience is, where they are and how to approach them.

As an author who is writing a book for publication, your focus throughout the writing process should be your audience—your readers—and not you. I heard a commentator on the radio yesterday talking about art and artists. He said that artists do not paint or draw for others. They typically produce work that expresses their own joy or pain or whatever. Far too many authors write from the same perspective. They write what they want, what makes them feel good, what they believe others should be exposed to or what others should know or think. And these books are hard sells.

I urge you to write what is wanted/needed, not what makes you feel good. If you can love writing what others want, all the better.

So should you hire help to get word out about your book? As I indicated, I prefer that you approach your audience in person and using your own instincts and knowledge (about your topic/genre and about your readers). Go out and talk to them, submit articles on your topic to the publications they read, provide resources at your website, conduct workshops on your subject, solicit reviews and so forth.

Where you might need help is in writing your promo material. Many authors I meet have difficulty describing their nonfiction book or their story so that it entices potential readers. They miss the mark when it comes to creating press releases and back cover copy. They either give their promotional material too much of a hard-sell for the type of book they’re promoting or they leave the reader out of it. It’s important to speak to the reader when writing promo copy, for example.

Here’s my suggestion.
• Study hard to understand the psychology of book promotion.
• Create a viable marketing plan.
• Do as much of the legwork and actual promotion as you can.
• Possibly hire someone to help create your written promotional copy.
• After about a year of hard marketing, consider whether a publicist could help you to generate more sales through the media, for example or landing more prestigious presentations, perhaps.

Book promotion can be all consuming. There’s a lot of competition out there for authors. So it is imperative, if you want your book to succeed, that you study the process. Read “Promote Your Book” and “Talk Up Your Book” by Patricia Fry. Both available at Amazon in print, Kindle and audio and at most other online and downtown bookstores. If you are new to the publishing industry, please read “Publish Your Book.” It covers all publishing options for both fiction and nonfiction, helps you to choose the right one for you and your project and also goes into self-editing, marketing, distribution, etc.—everything you must consider before entering into this fiercely competitive publishing business.

All of these books are also available here: http://www.matilijapress.com

I’m working on another speech—this one is for the Cat Writer’s Association conference in Dallas the first of November. http://www.catwriters.org/annual.html

This is my fourth time speaking to the Cat Writers and this is one of my favorite annual gigs. What a great group of writers. And most of them also share another love of mine—cats. Among the members are cat behaviorists, veterinarians, cat rescuers and just ordinary people who share their homes with one or more cats. Some of them are authors and some write for pet-related publications.

This year I’m speaking on book promotion activities you can pursue in your pajamas and kitty-cat slippers. Should be a fun presentation. And I can tell you that it will also be enlightening and educational. I’ll reveal some of the content of my talk once I return in November. But I do want to make a point today. I teach, preach and nag about the importance of using your personality to sell books. There are ways to use your personality without actually meeting your audience face-to-face. And I urge you to do so. How? Here are a few ideas:

• Build a website and share something personal about yourself there. Give your site a professional appearance, of course, but also make it friendly.

• Post a photo of yourself at your website. I like to see at least one shot of the author in a casual pose—you know, hugging a cat or a child, hiking, gardening, biking…

• Learn to write messages and posts in a friendly tone.

• Respond to people who comment at your blog, follow you on social media sites, etc. Communication is so important in our world.

• Visit other sites related to the topic/theme or genre of your book and communicate with the owners.

• Give when you can—everyone likes to get something for free. It might be a chapter from your book, a separate mini-ebook, a copy of your book as a prize in a contest, etc. I give free manuscript evaluations and I have a free ebook for download at my website and I send out free bimonthly enewsletter.

You use your personality when you do a radio interview or webinar. Your personality comes through in your articles, in your posts at forums and discussion groups and in the way your website is designed.

If you want to sell books, you need to first identify your audience, locate them and understand how to best approach them. Just remember that if your readers like your book, they’re going to want to know more about you. Don’t hide out. Even when you’re cozy in your home office wearing your favorite robe, you can still reach out to people, communicate, portray a persona and even make friends.

I want to thank all of you who have purchased Catnapped, the first in my Klepto Cat Mystery series for your Kindles. Sales are way up and I am a happy writer. If you haven’t read it, check it out here: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W It’s a quick, easy and fun read, especially if you like mysteries and cats. The second in the series, Cat-Eye Witness, will debut any day now.

To learn more about the publishing industry and book promotion, sign up for my FREE enewsletter, “Publishing/Marketing News and Views” here: http://www.patriciafry.com You can also download my free ebook, “50 Ways to Build Your Author Platform.”

Check out my array of publishing and book promotion books here: http://www.matilijapress.com If you want to know more about how to use your personality to sell books, I highly recommend Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, conferences and More.

I’ve been silent for a few days. I spent the weekend helping out my daughter who is recuperating from a badly broken leg. All is well.

And did I do any book promotion while I was gone, you might ask? Of course you would ask that since I constantly teach and preach that authors promote their books wherever they go. I nag that you should find opportunities to promote your book in every situation. So, did I follow my own advice? Yes, to a degree.

I left my daughter a handful of bookmarks promoting my novel, “Catnapped” and suggested she hand them out to visitors. She’s very social and has many people coming in and out. It’s like Grand Central Station there at times and she’ll have fun giving little gifts of my bookmarks to those who come to visit. If the circumstances had been different, I may have also visited local bookstores, pet stores and libraries, while there this weekend. I would have arranged ahead of time to meet with a book club or writers group in the area or maybe set up a one-day workshop at the library along with a radio interview prior to the workshop date.

My daughter is into horses (which is how she broke her leg, by the way) and my novels do include horses. The second book in the Klepto Cat Mystery series, “Cat-Eye Witness,” has a stronger horse influence, so when it is up and running on Amazon (soon, very soon) I will more actively promote to her horsey friends. I’ll leave bookmarks at feed stores, have my daughter hand them out at horseshows and ropings and maybe arrange to do a little presentation for the horse and cat enthusiasts in her town.

Now it may sound like this is all about me. But I’m only using me and my mystery novel(s) as an example to give you ideas for promoting your own book. I know that many of you who write and publish fiction are absolutely stuck when it comes to book promotion and I often use my experiences to help you get unstuck—to give you hope and ideas for getting word out about your wonderful book.

We welcome your promotional experiences and ideas with fiction and also memoirs—another hard sell for most authors.

While I was helping out my daughter, I checked my emails on my iPhone and found one from a book reviewer who had just written a detailed review of “Catnapped” and posted it at Amazon and other places with 5 beautiful bright stars. Made my weekend.

And this did not happen by accident. In most cases, reviewers don’t just find my book and decide to review it. Although this does happen on occasion, generally, the author must seek out appropriate reviewers and tell them about their books.

Sales for your fiction or nonfiction book are hugely your responsibility. This blog and my enewsletter along with my last three nonfiction books focus mainly on helping you to successfully promote and sell your book.

Learn more about my books here: http://www.matilijapress.com

Sign up for my enewsletter, “Publishing/Marketing News and Views” here: http://www.patriciafry.com

Order your Kindle copy of “Catnapped,” a Klepto Cat Mystery here: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

How many ways do you reach out to potential readers each day? Do you post a blog designed to educate, inform or enlighten readers? Do you hand out a few bookmarks with the cover of your book and ordering information? Do you talk to everyone you meet about your book? Do you visit directories of book reviewers and contact some of them to review your book? Do you include a “signature” at the end of your emails so that everyone receiving an email from you becomes aware that you are the author of such-and-such book? Do you have a great website full of things of interest to your audience?

Many authors are so busy trying to find time to promote their books or trying to come up with elaborate book promotion plans that they neglect to take the opportunities before them to actually promote it.

What are your plans for today? Will you be home—spend a couple of hours at your computer spreading the word about your book. Design a website, add a post to your blog, comment at other blogs related to the theme of your book, send your pitch letter to a dozen or so appropriate reviewers, write an article or two for related publications.

Are you going to work? Leave bookmarks in the break room, challenge a few coworkers to read your book, discuss it briefly with a client or customers where appropriate to do so and certainly, hand out bookmarks and talk about your book when you go out to lunch.

Are you running errands? Stop by local bookstores and see about setting up a signing. Leave bookmarks here and there for people to pick up. Visit appropriate specialty stores and other sites where you might be able to arrange for a presentation or demonstration. This might be libraries, schools, cupcake bakery, pharmacy, travel agency, children’s bookstore, kitchen store, Christian bookstore/church, auto parts store, airport or pet store, for example.

Once you become a published author, book promotion should become part of your daily routine both on the computer (researching opportunities, connecting with book reviewers and conference organizers, webinars, etc.) and in person (talking about your book).

If you need some real-life examples from me and dozens of other authors and processionals along with over 250 ideas for launching or jumpstarting your book promotion program, order my book, “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author” And for those of you who want to get out and speak to your potential readers at conferences, book festivals, at signings and you need help honing your public speaking skills, you must read “Talk Up Your Book.”

Both books are available at Amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio and at most other online and downtown bookstores. Also available here: http://www.matilijapress.com