Writing and Publishing News from

This week finds me busily trying to coordinate tasks in order to properly launch my latest book. There are so many details to handle and the timing depends on other people—the publisher, the publishing staff in charge of shipping books, my web master, reviewers, etc.

For those of you who are just tuning in, the book is “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.”

I have a box of books now. The book is on amazon.com. Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/oe56Ia It won’t be on Kindle until the end of the month—bummer. The five-star reviews are accumulating at the book page. Be sure to stop by and read them.

The book isn’t up at my site, yet. I’ll let you know when that occurs. Hopefully this week. The book is in the hands of around two dozen key people within the publishing realm and I have a few interviews scheduled.

I’ve been in contact with all of the contributors for this book. They all have copies and are busily posting the book at their websites, telling others about it, writing reviews and so forth. What is the general consensus? OMG, people LOVE it!

But I can’t stop to bask in the glory—there is still SO much more to do and I must wait to do a lot of it until the book is available at my website. Today, however, I will work on listing additional appropriate book reviewers and check to see if the publisher will send books to them or if I’ll have to do that. I’ll start contacting reviewers. I’ll also submit articles to the many writing/publishing magazines and newsletters with a bio that includes information about the new book.

I have some speaking engagements coming up, so I’m glad to have books to show and sell.

What I’m itching to do is contact those on my email list. I’ll do so once the book is up at my site and again when the Kindle is ready. And that’s also when I’ll go into high gear promotion mode.

I just finished editing this month’s SPAWNews before sending it over to the proofreader. My announcement about the book is included. This is quite a fully-packed issue with information about writing, illustrating and promoting children’s books, how and where to plan and present a successful book signing, how to work with illustrators and more. SPAWNews is FREE. Sign up for your free subscription of this monthly enewsletter and receive a copy of “Promote Yourself: 25 Ways to Promote Your Work, Whether You’re an Artists, Author or Small Publishers.” http://www.spawn.org

And keep an eye on my website as my new book will appear there any day:
http://www.matilijapress.com

Do you need editorial help? If you are an author who hopes to publish your book, you need an editor. Learn more about me and my work:
http://www.patriciafry.com

Sign up for a free copy of my ebook: “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book.” Around 200 people have downloaded it so far. Let’s hope that it has helped each and every one of them to write the right book for the right audience.

Some new authors still believe that everything comes at a price. Not book reviews—unless you consider the searing pain you feel when you get a bad one.

There are many ways to get free book reviews and I believe you should strive to get as many as you can from colleagues in your field, authors in your genre, readers and others who just love reviewing books in your category. Solicit reviews in publications related to your topic/genre. This might include newsletters and magazines. Arrange to have reviews posted at various related blog sites and web sites.

And don’t forget to ask reviewers to post their reviews at your book page on amazon.com.

There are even free book review sites. So don’t feel that you have to pay anywhere from $25 to $400 for a review. Here are a few directories of, at least, mostly FREE reviewers.
http://www.acqweb.org/bookrev.html
http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/book-reviewers.html

Also check out book reviewers in the Literary Marketplace (in the reference section of your library).

I’ve probably had 300 reviews of my books over the years and I’ve never paid for one of them, except occasionally with a bruised ego. Remember, you can’t please everyone all the time.

Here’s a freeby for you. If you are thinking about writing a book, you really should check out my FREE ebooklet—50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book.
Get it FREE here:
http://www.patriciafry.com

http://www.matilijapress.com

I had such a good time visiting the Apple Valley branch of the California Writers Guild yesterday. What a great group of serious writers and friendly, receptive people. Enjoyable. And I sold out of the books I brought—always a plus.

Even after all of these years in this business, I still always learn something when I speak at events like this. One thing that occurred to me yesterday is how important face-to-face communication still is for humankind. Email, texting, FaceBook and even Twitter, are useful—in fact, valuable in business and personal interactions. But humans still need to touch, to see the meaning of an innuendo in someone’s eyes and to hear the inflection in one’s voice.

We can miss a lot in human communication when it is masked by technology—intention, nuances, gestures, body language, and emotion. Emoticons can provide only so much information. Most of it goes undetected unless you are standing in front of the individual with whom you are conversing, arguing with, laughing with, hugging, etc.

This is certainly nothing new. Remember when it was feared that the cell phone would make real-time, face-to-face communication obsolete—that our ability to converse in person would diminish because of technology?

And the reality of this fear is even more prevalent today. That’s why I am reminding you (and myself) to get out of that den of technology that you call a “writing room” or “office” occasionally and actually sit across from another person. Venture out and speak over the fence to a neighbor. Leave the house as a family without your communication devices and enjoy time together actually talking. Join a writers’ or authors’ group and attend meetings and events. Go out and talk to a group or an individual about your book.

Not only will this be healthy for your psyche, it will expand your horizons as a writer or author. And if you are promoting a book, meeting people in person will result in more book sales.

I sold more books in one two-hour period yesterday than I have sold in the last several weeks through other channels. And I’m pretty sure that my presence made a greater impact on members of the audience than if they had only read my blog, visited my website or followed me on Twitter.

The internet is a wonderful tool. But we also need to apply the personal touch to our business and personal interactions. Make this your goal for the coming week. And let me know how it goes.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

Your new book has just gone to the printer or publisher. You’ll be holding it in your hands within three to eight weeks. What should you be doing in the meantime? Well, promoting it of course.

Here are some ideas for promoting your book while you’re waiting for it to become a book. You should have been doing some of this even during the process of writing it:

1: Build a website and, if you are the publisher, arrange for a merchant account system.

2: Start blogging regularly on the topic or theme of your book.

3: Get involved in some of the social media sites: FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

4: Send notices to your mailing list and email list offering a pre-publication discount—purchase the book before a certain date and get a 20 percent discount.

5: Create promotional brochures and order business cards.

6: Talk about your book wherever you go and hand out your promotional material.

7: Arrange for speaking engagements spaced throughout the year.

8: Write articles (or submit stories) to appropriate publications. Promote your book in the bio at the end.

9: Make connections with leaders in your field/genre.

10: Research and list the managers of specialty stores, websites, companies, institutions etc., as well as professionals who might be interested in using your upcoming book in some way—selling it, recommending it, etc.

11: Write promotional letters to send out to your lists once the book arrives.

12: Check out conferences related to the theme/topic of your book. Contact the organizers of those you’d like to attend.

What can you add to this list? Send me your ideas—let’s get creative and help other authors.

My new book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author is scheduled for release a month from now. You can pre-order this book now from amazon.com.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

When should you start promoting your book? I say, while you’re writing it. That’s right; you should be building promotion into your book during the writing process. How?

1: Include a lot of people in your book. Most of them will purchase your book and tell their friends and acquaintances about it.

For nonfiction:
• Quote experts and interview people who have experiences related to the topic of your book (raising feral kittens, caring for an Alzheimer’s patient, hiking after the age of fifty, recycling, cycling, fishing certain lakes or losing weight, for example.)

• List the people you interviewed in the book as well as the agencies and other entities that provided information, stats, facts, etc.

For nonfiction and fiction:
• Gather endorsements for your book and print them on the back cover and perhaps inside the book, as well.

2: Offer something of interest to a variety of readers. For nonfiction, you might have a large audience base among readers seeking help managing diabetes, struggling with self-image issues or wanting help with self-publishing, for example. For fiction, you might have a large readership for your science fiction, chic lit or techno-thriller book. But you can increase your audience by adding something more.

For nonfiction:
• Give your book more than one aspect—add a self-help angle to your healing memoir, for example, a how-to focus for your informational book or a workbook feature to enhance your how-to book.

• Promote one or more products, companies, organizations or causes in your book (with permission), and possibly get added support, influence or help when promoting your book.

For Fiction:
• Add elements to your historical novel, young adult thriller or adventure novel, for example, that will appeal to a wider audience. What is in, what’s hot, what’s on people’s minds? Incorporate some of these things into your novel. Give a character autism, a designer dog or a bent toward political cynicism, for example. Those people who don’t typically read historical novels, might be interested in one with a character who thinks like he does or who has an affliction he is familiar with.

The most important thing you can do while writing your book is to always write with your particular audience in mind. Ask yourself all along the way, “Will readers understand this comment?” “Does this segue make sense?” “Is this scene easy to follow?” Make sure that you do not lose your audience—leave them behind, confuse them or lie to them.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

I notice that folks are still getting confused about the term “self-publishing.” Most hopeful authors who use this term are actually signing a pay-to-publish agreement. They are going with one of the one-hundred or so companies that provide publishing services for a fee. They are signing with AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Dog Ear Press, Booklocker or Outskirts Press, for example.

True self-publishing is now sometimes referred to as independent publishing. It means that the author establishes his or her own publishing company—applies for a fictitious business name, signs up with the state board of equalization, etc. The author hires a printer, buys the ISBN, arranges for the barcode. He or she puts up all of the money, makes all of the decisions and reaps all of the profits.

In either case, the author is responsible for promoting his or her book. And I can tell you that promotion is less complicated when you have the control—when you own the copyright and the ISBN—when you are the publisher of record.

Sure, when you go with a traditional royalty publisher, you don’t own the ISBN—you are not the publisher of record. But, in this case, you have a publisher eager to handle details related to distribution, getting your book into bookstores, arranging for books to be delivered for signings, and all.

You’ve heard (read) me say this before, no matter which publishing option you choose, you are responsible for promoting your book. Sure, the traditional publisher can get your book into bookstores, but it is up to you to keep it there. Once customers stop coming in to purchase copies of your book, the bookstore has no more reason to carry it.

Here’s a statistic that may shock you. RR Bowker (the keeper of publishing statistics) reports that there were over a million books published each of the last two years. Do you know how many books even a mega bookstore such as Barnes and Noble and Borders carries? Only around 150,000 titles.

Of course, experts say that bookstores may not be the best place to sell books. In fact, stats indicate that more than half of all books are sold outside of the traditional bookstore. So if you are a hopeful author who is about ready to launch a new book, make sure that you write a complete book proposal that will honestly and reasonably outline a promotions plan including a wide variety of realistic and potentially effective marketing tactics. And be sure to evaluate your platform and find ways to expand on it and strengthen it.

In today’s highly competitive book marketing climate, I find that personality sells books. When you connect with your readers in some way—through live presentations, book signings, book festivals, an interactive website, perhaps webinars, blogs, etc., people are more apt to purchase your book. In fact, most authors sell more books in person than any other way. I call this hand-selling your books.

If you have a book to sell and sales are a bit sluggish, consider the following:
• Make arrangements this week to speak locally or someplace where you’ll be traveling this summer.

• Plan a home party in your neighborhood where you introduce your nonfiction book or have guests act out parts of your novel.

• Locate (or establish) book clubs throughout your state and offer to attend those gatherings where they’ll be discussing your book.

• Seek out conferences related to the topic or genre of your book and apply to be a speaker. Some organizers plan far in advance, so contact them several months or a year before the event with your list of potential presentations. http://www.allconferences.com

• Contact the program directors of radio talk shows related to books or to the topic of your book throughout the U.S. Read Fran Silverman’s book, Talk Radio Wants You, An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited. Or read her individual reports.
http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com

Come up with your own ideas and share them with us. You might plan a program in the lunchroom at the company where you work, for example. Arrange to speak and sign books in an unlikely place—particularly one that gets a lot of foot traffic. Use your imagination. Depending on the topic or theme of your book, this might be a kitchen store, barbecue shop, auto parts store, pet store, vegetarian restaurant, big box store, ice cream parlor, nursery, college, grammar school, library, small airport, etc. If the main character in your novel is a rodeo star, sign books in a feed store on a busy weekend. Maybe you have a book of poetry, see about doing a reading at a rocking gourmet pizza place some Friday night.

Check out my array of books—especially those related to publishing and book promotion:
http://www.matilijapress.com

Review my credentials and ask me to give a free editorial evaluation of your book project.
http://www.patriciafry.com