Writing and Publishing News from

As authors, we all get excited when we find FREE opportunities to promote our books to our audiences! Someone mentions your book in their blog (that happened to me this morning). Your article is published and your bio includes your book title. You discover a newsletter related to your topic and they agree to do a book review. Your public library is featuring “Local Author” week and they listed you and your book. You donate a copy of your book for a silent auction and the MC mentions it several times throughout the evening. You send a press release to several appropriate newsletters and a few of them actually publish it.

Yes, you can get FREE publicity. And when you do, I suggest that you make note of where and when. Sure, you will print out or clip anything related to your book. What I’m suggesting today is that you keep a log of such opportunities along with contact information to use at other times.

For example, if the library has an annual “Local Author” week, get a head start on the event next year. Contact the librarian a month or two prior and suggest that authors do signings or talks at the library throughout the week. Volunteer to work with the committee on promoting the event. The more attention the event gets, the more exposure your book will receive.

The thing is, if you rely on your memory to remind you that the Local Author event is coming up, you will probably be caught off guard again next year. Log the event and the date, refer to your log often and you will be prepared.

Keep a log of publications, blogs and websites where your book was mentioned or reviewed. These are your friends. They will help you with the tough job of marketing. But they can only assist you if you keep them informed. When you sell your first 1,000 copies, a celebrity purchases your book, you launch a contest or a charity, you revamp your website, you add a blog or do anything else that’s note-worthy, contact this list with your news. Maybe your book won an award, you have scheduled a signing or you have just completed an accompanying workbook, send this news to your list of “friends.”

Your list should include dozens of publications related to your book’s topic or genre. Get Submission Guidelines for each of them and periodically submit articles (or stories) to them for additional exposure. Visit your blogging friends often and leave comments when appropriate. Always identify yourself as the author of (title of your book). Ask if you can be a guest blogger occasionally. And/or request that the blogger interview you for their site.

Yesterday, we talked about recycling your blog posts and articles. Today, I’m suggesting that you recycle your promotional opportunities by keeping good records and utilizing those opportunities again and again.

Patricia Fry is Promoted
Be sure to read the August 2009 edition of SPAWNews—the free newsletter for SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). It is posted at the SPAWN website:
http://www.spawn.org/spnews.htm

In this issue, we announce changes coming to SPAWN and we introduce the new leadership team—which includes me, the new Executive Director.

By this time next month, Susan Daffron, our new President and Webmaster, hopes to have the newly designed website up and running. So stay tuned. For questions about SPAWN, my published books, my editorial services or online courses, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com

I had an email from a colleague/friend last week asking me to write a blog on a subject that’s been on her mind, lately: Over-Promotion. She says, and I agree, that some professionals are giving more space in their newsletters and on their websites to self-promotion than to useful advice, information and resources. During our conversation, I chimed in expressing my disgust with regard to outside advertising in the newsletters I receive and some of the websites I visit.

Sure, those of us who go to the trouble of maintaining websites, writing blogs and publishing newsletters do so in order to PROMOTE our books and/or services. But when practically the entire newsletter, for instance, is filled with self-promotion—when you have to really search to find an informative article or good resources—it becomes a tad (or a lot) irritating. My friend and I have both stopped reading certain newsletters because they lack the value they once held for us. I’ve begun deleting one newsletter I used to find useful because of the amount of the increase in blatant advertising—both paid ads and promotion for the editor’s company, products and services.

Some blogs contain, in my opinion, way too much self-promotion. Just this morning, I received a nice email from someone asking if she could be a guest blogger for my blog. All she asked for in return was a link to her website. Well, it turns out that her website is nothing BUT self-promotion. There was nothing even remotely personal about it or useful or helpful. It was all advertisement. Of course, I turned her down.

What is a good balance for a newsletter? In my opinion:

• At least 75 percent solid information, resources, opinion pieces, etc. that help, guide, teach, inform and educate readers on your topic and related topics.
• 7 percent pure entertainment.
• 8 percent self-promotion.
• 10 percent advertising, if you need it in order to help fund your newsletter.

Please chime in with your ideas, suggestions, likes and dislikes. What are your favorite writing/publishing-related newsletters and magazines? What blog sites do you return to over and over again? Which ones contain way too much advertising and self-promotion? I’d love to write an in-depth piece on this topic. With your help, I can.

And keep in mind that one really does have to give away a LOT in order to attract the business they need to survive. In fact, sometimes it seems awfully lopsided for the author or editor who is trying to make it. You give, give, give with, seemingly, little in return. Like I told an audience Saturday, authors often feel as though they are hand-selling each and every book they sell.

Here’s my commercial: If you haven’t done so lately, be sure to visit my website http://www.matilijapress.com. See my wide array of books and order those that resonate with you. You will find them extremely helpful. Read the articles I’ve posted FREE for your information. Consider signing up for one of my courses. The courses are my way of giving you explicit instruction and personal, one-on-one feedback at a much discounted rate. My regular consultation and editing fee is $50/hour.

Sign up today and learn how to establish a career as a freelance writer, write a successful book proposal, self-publish your book or promote your book from a 35+ year veteran freelance writer, author of 29 books and publisher.

I spent the day in my element yesterday—amidst hopeful and struggling authors at the Ventura Book Festival and Writers Conference. It was a great day. I saw authors I’ve met before—several who have read some of my books. I talked to authors who knew my name and came looking for me and I met new authors in search of information.

My Publishing Workshop was filled almost to capacity and everyone seemed to be hanging onto my every word. I focused on educating the authors about the publishing industry and describing their publishing options.

When I asked the audience how many people knew that it is the author’s responsibility to promote his or her own book, NO ONE raised a hand. But I did get some of the typical questions, “You mean the publisher won’t promote the book for me?” “I can’t rely on the publisher to promote my book?”

Several people in the audience and others who stopped by my booth bought books from me. In fact, I was the only one selling books in my immediate area. I don’t know how the other booksellers were doing overall, but I didn’t see many people carrying books around, except for mine.

The fact that my books and my workshop got so much interest reinforces my belief that many people are blindly writing books. By this, I mean that they are writing a book to distribute and sell with no understanding of the publishing industry. They do not know how they will get from point A to point B, let alone to point Z! And it thrills me when they do venture out from their writing rooms in search of information and resources. I’m especially pleased when they seek me out or stumble across me at an event like this. And these experiences also reinforce my belief in the value of exposure.

I told you that the people around me were not selling books. And they may feel as though the day was a waste of their time. Some of them might vow never to do another book festival again. But those people are overlooking the great opportunity they had to be noticed. Around 300 people walked past their booths and took a look at their books. Some of those people picked up the books, asked questions and took business cards or brochures. That’s known as exposure. The authors’ books were listed in the program which many people took home and shared with others. Some of the visitors told others about the books they saw at the event.

And don’t discount the experience you get each time you have the opportunity to talk about your book. You learn something new each and every time and, if you’re truly paying attention, you become more and more accomplished.

Go out and find ways to get exposure for your book. It’s the only way you are going to find readers/consumers. And realize that sales receipts aren’t the only way to measure the success of an event. Always consider the exposure value, too.

If you are thinking about writing a book for publication or you are in the process of writing it, and you haven’t purchased your copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, do so now! http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Do you have a book in the works or in your hands? Do you know who will have to promote that book? You! Yes, even if you have a traditional royalty publisher; even if you paid your “self-publishing” company to create a marketing plan for your book; even if you believe this book will sell itself.

Your Traditional Royalty Publisher
Let’s examine each “even if.” You land a traditional royalty publisher and he promotes your book to his list of reviewers, adds it to his online catalog of books, sends out a few press releases and gets it placed in bookstores. That’s huge—but is it enough? Probably not. So your book gets some press for a few months, it is reviewed by a few reviewers and the bookstores have placed another order for it. This is all good. However, it won’t remain for long in bookstores unless it continues to sell. And it won’t keep selling after the reviews and articles have stopped.

That’s why it is vital that you, the author, step up to the plate and take charge of promoting your own book in any way that you can—give live presentations, build your own website, do book signings and library readings, get book reviews in and write articles for appropriate magazines, attend book festivals, create a charity or organization around your book topic/genre and so, so much more.

Your Self-Publishing Company Promotional Package
Let’s say that you pay the extra amount for a promotions package through your self-publishing company. Generally, what you get is only a pitiful bit of exposure and it may not even be within the realm of your target audience. As you can tell, I don’t think much of the one-size-fits-all approach to book promotion that is often offered by these companies for a pretty hefty fee.

I urge authors who want to “self-publish” with one of these companies to devise a solid marketing plan. But first, make sure that you completely understand your contract—that you know what your profit margin is and that you’ve set a reasonable price on the book (overprice it and it won’t sell, under-price it and you won’t profit).

Your Book Won’t Sell Itself
What if you believe that your book will sell itself? Sounds crazy, right? But I meet authors with this conviction. No kidding! What they don’t know is that the competition for books is huge and growing. And there are fewer readers. There were over 400,000 books published in 2008 and, I think it was, less than half of the adults polled a few years ago, said that they have never read another book since their high school graduation.

Let’s say that your book is an amazing read. Still no one will know this if they don’t know about your book. You have to get the word out to your audience in order to entice them to buy your book. So to say that your book will sell itself is a bit presumptuous. First people must know about it. Then they have to read it. If they like it, they will tell others, sure. But I don’t think any book has ever made bestseller status or turned a fortune for the author without quite a great deal of promotional effort.

Again, books need to be promoted. And the author is the best one to lead the book promotion charge. Think about this: no one knows your book as well as you do and no one else cares as much about it.

For more about book promotion, read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book by Patricia Fry. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Are you getting the right kind of publicity for your book? Are you always on the lookout for opportunities to promote your book? Or are you getting rather weary of the constant need to push in order to get even minimal recognition?

The fact is that book sales will dwindle and maybe even stop as soon as you quit promoting it. Sometimes clients will ask, “How long will I have to promote my book?” And I tell them, “As long as you want it to sell.” There’s no letting up. There are no shortcuts to publishing success. Your book will sell for as long as you are willing to promote it.

Despite this fact, some authors run out of steam. Others run out of ideas for promoting their books. That’s why joining SPAWN is a good idea. The SPAWN Market Update, posted each first of the month in the member area, features numbers of book promotion ideas in each issue. We provide specific information about where to get book reviews; we feature publications seeking articles—some of them, perhaps, on your book’s topic; sites with book promotion ideas; directories of book review sites; articles demonstrating original methods of book promotion and more.

SPAWNews, the FREE monthly enewsletter from SPAWN, includes many contests, conferences, book festivals and other events for authors. We also typically review a book related to issues for authors who are in promotion mode.

My book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, includes several chapters on book promotion. I also have a book focusing on low and no-cost ways to promote your book. Take a look at Over 75 Good Ways to Promote Your Book. Both books at my website: http://www.matilijapress.com

As a gift to you this first day of June, here are a few resources for getting your book noticed. But beware, if you have plans for the summer, you may not want to follow this advice. If you actively pursue these opportunities, you might get awfully busy over the next few months.

Dan Shaurette at Self-Published Authors seeks books to review. He also interviews authors for his newsletter. Contact Dan at editor@selfpublishedauthor.com. Visit his site at http://www.selfpublishedauthors.com. Dan also publishes articles on subjects of interest to authors. Submit one related to your writing experience. If he publishes it, he will include your brief bio—another way to promote your book. He’s is running one of my articles in his June 1, 2009 edition. See “Yes, You Can Achieve Publishing Success” on page 6.

Many magazine and newsletter editors (for both print and electronic) are actively seeking well-written, interesting, entertaining and useful articles. Look, you wrote a book—surely, you can write articles to promote it. And article-writing is an excellent way to promote your book because it positions you as an expert in your field.

Let’s say that you are relatively unknown, but that you have a lot of knowledge and experience related to budgeting, creating highly effective PowerPoint presentations, making things from sea glass, managing cat colonies, photographing children or growing vegetables under difficult conditions, for example. You’ve written a book on the topic. You know there is a market for your book, but you haven’t been able to reach many potential customers, yet. Here’s a process that will increase sales.

• Seek out appropriate magazines and newsletters.
• Study these publications so you clearly understand their audience and their editorial needs.
• Study their submission guidelines (type of articles they publish, number of words, submission requirements, pay scale, etc.).
• Come up with some informative article ideas that will help you to build credibility in your field.
• Construct a two or three line bio which includes your book title and website address.
• Submit your article using the guidelines for that particular publication.
• Bring additional attention to your article by blogging and twittering about it. Send announcements to your lists and your addressbook.

To learn more about the mysterious process of article-writing, sign up today for my online article-writing course. Or join SPAWN (you’ve been wanting to, anyway), sign up for the course starting August 1st and get a discount. Here’s what you get:

• Membership in SPAWN for 1 year–$45.
• Article-writing course (also offering book proposal workshop starting July 1st)–$100 for 6 weeks.
• Free book—your choice from 3 print books and 3 ebooks—FREE.

All of this for $145 total.
http://www.spawn.org

Questions? PLFry620@yahoo.com

If you are an author, you are in business. You have customers. You must work toward enticing more customers. And you have an obligation to all of those customers.

I still meet authors who do not treat their publishing ventures as businesses. And this is okay, unless they expect to sell lots of books and make lots of money. I actually met a hopeful author once who insisted that he did not have to do anything to sell his book because it would sell itself. He told me this on several occasions. He was convinced that people would flock to buy his book without any effort on his part.

Some authors believe that their stories are so fascinating—they are so attached to their memoirs or their novels—that they won’t need to go to the trouble of marketing them.

Others are out promoting their books, but they don’t connect with their customers.

There certainly are all categories of authors. Some take their published books so seriously that they build companies around them, create brands and spend many hours and dollars promoting.

No matter where you are on the author spectrum, one of your primary considerations should be your customers. Customers are the steam for your engine. They are the measuring stick to your success. And they should be acknowledged, appreciated, heard and utilized.

• Acknowledge your customer at the time of purchase and let him/her know that you are available to address their questions or concerns.
• Thank your customer verbally and possibly through some sort of add-on gift or premium.
• Listen to the feedback you receive from your customers. It can be valuable to your marketing efforts and future books.
• Utilize your customers. Keep a customer directory or database and contact them when you are offering a new service or product, for example.

What about the dissatisfied customer? We all get them. You may receive accolades all over the place, get numerous 5-star reviews and hear scores of complimentary words with regard to your book and then get one customer who dislikes it. He may complain, ask for a refund, spread dirt about you and your “poor excuse for a book” and/or find a reason to take you to court. This can be an awful experience. Why would anyone do this? It could be jealousy, sour grapes or the irate customer might be just an angry, negative individual who has a habit of causing trouble.

I once attended a seminar on how to handle the irate customer. One thing I remember from that seminar is that all the customer wants is to be heard. It’s recommended that you provide them space in which to give their complaint and express their emotions. Once they have that out of their system, commiserate with them. Say, for example, “I don’t blame you for being disappointed. If I had to wait 3 weeks to have my package delivered and then it was damaged, I’d be upset, too.” And then ask them what would make them a satisfied customer again.

Most of the time, they will request something far less than you would imagine. You might be ready to offer them a free book, free shipping and access to your upcoming online course on creating tasty appetizers at a moment’s notice, when all they want is for you to pay their shipping costs.

This makes it sound easy to appease an unhappy customer, doesn’t it? But we’ve all met the customer, client or organization member from hell—the one who is so outrageously unreasonable that there is nothing on earth or in outer space that would satisfy him or her no matter what. What can an honest, hardworking, conscientious author do in this circumstance? Consider this his or her problem and move on. Hopefully, they will move on, as well, and not stick around stirring things up just for the sport of it.

I’d love to hear about your most difficult customer or client. Leave a comment here. Perhaps we can start a movement against bad behaving customers. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a website covering this. Maybe there’s even a support group we could refer the bad customers to.

If you haven’t done so already, visit my website. It is completely revised and updated. We had an open house at Matilija Press recently. Stop by and view the wide array of articles. The article that gets the most hits, by the way, is one on how to be a better conversationalist. Isn’t that interesting? Look at all of the books I have for sale. Study my resource list for authors and freelance writers. It’s pretty massive and completely updated. (Let me know of other links I should add.) Learn about my online courses—oh, a heads up. We’re offering two of my courses at a discount for SPAWN members starting July 1 and August 1. http://www.spawn.org Sign up for our free enewsletter. Click on “Free Newsletter.”

Here’s my website link:
http://www.matilijapress.com

Many first-time authors are so focused on selling books that they neglect a very important aspect of marketing and promotion: Exposure.

I’ve seen authors complain at the end of a day at a book festival because they sold only 12 books. Never mind the fact that hundreds of people saw the book, dozens picked it up and discussed it with the author, 130 people walked off with his brochures, he was invited to appear on a radio show and he met two people who use speakers at their monthly meetings. Yes, he may have lost money overall, if the booth cost him $100, lunch was $8 and he paid $5 for parking. But, in my estimation, he still gained more than he lost.

He has 12 new customers who, if they like the book, will talk about it with their friends. He can add those new customers to his mailing list and let them know when his next book is out. And he collected several leads that, if he follows up on them, could result in numerous sales. This is what’s known as exposure.

There’s an old marketing concept that says someone must see or hear about your product (be exposed to it) 8 times before he or she will buy it. So, as authors with books to sell, we must consider each opportunity to talk about our book or show it to someone as a step toward selling it to that person (or a whole audience of persons).

That’s why I always suggest to those who are out giving presentations about their books, attending book festivals and so forth, to have a signup sheet. You want to establish a connection with people who express an interest in your book. You want to make contact with them again and again. One way to accomplish this is to offer something for free. Have a signup sheet for those who want to receive your free ebook in the genre or on the topic of your book. Offer a “report” they might be interested in—8 tips for using garlic in cooking, tips and techniques for photographing your pets, how to handle your money in this economy or some of your favorite short stories.

Offer services for free. I offer free manuscript evaluations, for example. If you are an accountant with a book on family budgeting, offer a free email consultation for all or a few of those who sign up. Maybe your expertise is health and fitness. Offer your latest reports on fitness tips for the elderly, for example. Come up with something that members of this particular group of people could use and they will sign up for it—providing you with names and contact information to use in promoting this and any future books and/or services.

Do you see how valuable exposure can be? You may decide, “I don’t want to purchase a booth at that small book festival, even if it only costs me $75, because there won’t be enough sales.” But, I suggest thinking like a savvy promoter and signing up for that booth with a whole new attitude. Think exposure! Instead of being irritated with the folks who just walk on by your booth or who pick up your book, listen to your spiel and then put it down and move on, be honored. Be grateful for the opportunity to connect with this person. Make sure he or she takes something with them—your brochure or business card, for example. Invite them to sign up for your freeby. And thank them profusely for stopping by.

Always consider each and every visitor at a book festival and member of any audience a potential customer or client who could purchase your book or contact you for your service at any moment. It may take exposure to your book or you a dozen times or more before they buy. But, if you neglect to connect in some way with that person the first time around, or if you let your disappointment show, you will likely never hear from them again.

For more about book promotion and getting exposure for your book, as well as how to work a book festival so it works for you, purchase my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

You might also want to sign up for my online Book Promotion Workshop. It’s a great way to get hundreds of dollars worth of personal attention from me for only $200. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

This book is also available in libraries internationally. I’d be interested in how many of my blog followers have found it in libraries. Email me with the name of the library where you found it: PLFry620@yahoo.com.

I’d also like to get feedback regarding the blog post, over these past few years, that was most meaningful to you—pivotal in your success as a published author or freelance writer. PLFry620@yahoo.com.

Do you have a book to promote? If you have a published book, you have a book to promote. As you’ve probably learned, if you aren’t promoting your book, it isn’t selling.

I mentioned taking your book to book fairs in yesterday’s blog post. This is a good way to sell books and to get exposure for your book. (I plan to write a blog post about exposure tomorrow—so stay tuned.) But there is another good reason to take your book to book fairs and book festivals and that is to learn to talk about it.

You’ve probably heard professionals suggest that you should be able to describe your book in one sentence. You probably struggled with writing a synopsis for your book. Maybe, along the way, your mentor, an agent or a publisher asked you, “What is the purpose of your book?” and “Why did you write it?” And these are also some of the questions that will come up at a book festival.

Potential customers will ask, “What is your book about?” In order to inspire interest, you need to be prepared with a succinct, tantalizing response.

Not everyone who comes by your booth will stop, nor will they ask you any questions, so you must learn how to engage people in conversation and create an interest in your book.

It’s also important to learn when to keep talking and when to stop. I’ve seen authors inadvertently talk potential customers right out of buying their books.

After attending several book festivals, you’ll learn that not every sales pitch works with every potential customer. This is why you must engage the customer—to find out what concerns, thrills, interests, tickles, entices or soothes him or her, for example. And use what you learn about this person to turn him or her into a customer.

You might start out by asking someone who has stopped at your booth or who is passing by, “Do you know a child who loves to read?” Or ask adults who are walking with children, “May I read a passage from my book to your child?” This is a way of engaging a potential customer.

If someone stops to look at your book cover, you could say, “Do you like good mysteries?” If the answer is yes, then tell a little about your book. This way, you have engaged the potential customer.

When someone stops at my booth and either looks at or picks up my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, I will ask, “Are you an author?” I then ask them about their book. It becomes easy to segue into my sales pitch. If the visitor says, “I’m looking for a publisher,” I talk about the large section in my book featuring publishing options and the pros and cons of each. If they tell me that they have a book and are trying to promote it, I direct them to the book promotion chapters. Let the customer guide you in selling them your book.

Some people will ask questions. Note the types of questions they ask about your book on going green in Idaho, a wild horse rescue in modern times, how to make a smoother career transition or your young adult novel, for example. These are the things you will include in your spiel to other potential customers and that you will incorporate into your future speeches.

Get a booth at a book festival, sit silently behind your display of books all day without ever speaking out to a visitor and you will probably sell very few books. You won’t learn much about your potential customers, either. And you will certainly not gain any public speaking skills.

Go to the book festival with the idea of getting exposure for your book—raising awareness that it even exists—and with the idea of learning something about your customers and what they want to hear, and you will gain incredible insight, tools and skills that you can use to promote your book forevermore.

If you need personalized help with promoting your particular book(s), consider signing up for my online Book Promotion Course.
https://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

Learn more about book promotion and, in particular, how to work a book festival in my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html