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You promote as you write. By this I mean, if you wrote sporadically—just when you felt like it or when you had a few minutes here and there—that’s probably the same kind of time and energy you will put into promoting your book. If you stuck to a strict schedule from the time you started writing your book until you finished it, you may approach promotion with the same sense of discipline.

You might think about this as you establish your writing schedule this week and from now on. Think ahead to the time, energy and attention you must put toward book promotion and set a good writing schedule. If you can’t discipline yourself to write, how in the heck will you discipline yourself to do the hard part—promote your book?

Maybe you don’t quite understand what book promotion entails. None of us do until we are faced with books that aren’t selling. I suggest to anyone who is writing or even thinking about writing a book that they study the publishing industry before getting involved.

For a highly informative study of the industry, your publishing options, the possible consequences of your choices, your responsibilities as a published author and the whole publishing and book promotion process, read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. It’s discounted now at my website. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Join SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org. Or start by signing up for our FREE monthly enewsletter (on the home page). You’ll also receive a FREE ebook on promoting yourself.

Download the FREE ebooklet at my website, 50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book. http://www.patriciafry.com

Disregard this advice and avoid reading or studying anything about the publishing industry, how it works, what it entails, how to navigate it and you will be one of over 76 percent of authors who fail each year.

Publishing is not an extension of your writing. You must approach every aspect of it, from choosing a publishing option to book promotion and everything in between with knowledge. Enter the world of publishing without educating yourself and you will fail.

Do you ever wonder why some authors get all of the breaks? They are always out doing book signings, getting press, participating in events and announcing big sales figures. Could it be that they’re the lucky ones? They happened to bring their books out at the right time and seem to stumble into sweet deals. It could be.

But most likely these authors are constantly seeking opportunities, recognizing them and accepting them. They are making their luck—creating their “good fortune.”

I’ve been in contact with most of the SPAWN members who participated with us in the SPAWN booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books a few weeks ago. And opportunities stemming from that event—that exposure—are still manifesting for some of them.

One children’s book author is talking to the owner of a small chain of restaurants about book signings or some other activity that would bring recognition to both the restaurants and the author.

The author of a novel was contacted by a librarian she met at the book festival. The librarian had read her book, was impressed and invited her to participate in a large event the library is holding soon. She also said she will be recommending this book to patrons.

I had dinner with a SPAWN member this week who is speaking to a group of his book’s audience this morning at a private school. The school purchased copies of his book for each member of the audience. This opportunity came about when he sent a copy of his book to someone who later became a counselor at this school.

Do you recognize opportunities when you see them/hear about them? Are you taking advantage of them?

A SPAWN member contacted me recently asking if I knew how she could get her book reviewed. Well, I write about getting book reviews often in the SPAWN Market Update (in the member area of the SPAWN website) and I frequently provide strong leads for magazines, sites, etc. that publish book reviews. If this member had been reading the newsletter and studying the archives, she would have more opportunities at hand than she would know what to do with.

An opportunity is useless without action. But the first step in successfully using an opportunity is to discover it. You must go in search of opportunities. Seek them out. Know where to look for them and then pursue them.

Next, you must recognize an opportunity. I see authors look opportunities right in the face and not see it for what it is.

Once you identify the opportunity as such, and you know it is a good fit for you and your project, embrace it. Pursue it. Challenge it. Conquer it. How?

Join that writers’ or publishing group. If you are a member, partake of their offerings. Read the newsletters, follow the leads, attend the meetings, get involved in their activities. Follow up on leads that you learn of. Pursue avenues of potential exposure for your book. You cannot take this sort of action on behalf of your book project without being confronted by the opportunity to learn and to grow.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com
Sign up here and receive a FREE copy of my “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book.”

Imagine that you are an author. You’ve just received a shipment of your first published book from your printer or POD publisher. You admire your book, hold it, fondle it and do your best to keep from dancing around the room. Some of you do dance around the room—I did. I even broke out a bottle of champagne.

You head for the nearest mega-bookstore to experience the thrill of seeing your books shelved there next to America’s bestsellers. You search and you search, but your book is nowhere to be found. As any savvy marketer would do, you approach the store manager.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “We don’t carry self-published.” WHAT? That’s certainly not what your pay-to-publish representative told you. In fact, as you recall, he claimed that your book would be sold in all major bookstores throughout the nation.

Think about it, is that really what she said? Or did she say, “We will make your book available to all major bookstores throughout the nation?” Translated, this means, “If a bookstore manager comes to us looking for a book of this type, we will be sure to tell him about yours.”

I meet numerous disillusioned and disappointed authors each year at conferences, book festivals and online. They are shocked to learn that bookstores will not carry their books and they don’t know where to turn for sales. It might surprise you to know that even some of the small and medium-sized publishing houses do not have access to bookstores as an outlet for their authors’ books.

My advice to these authors is, “If the entrance to the bookstore is closed, go through the backdoor.” I tell them, in essence, “Instead of whining and griping, expend your energies making your book irresistible to booksellers.” How? Promote. Promote. Promote. When customers come in droves requesting your book, bookstores will stock it.

Demonstrate to the powers-that-be at Barnes and Noble and Borders that your book can attract hundreds or thousands of customers and they will carry it. Here’s how:

Please read the rest of this informative article here: http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/GettingBooksIntoBookstores.htm

Here are more book promotion mistakes that authors make. Do you see yourself in any of these scenarios?

4: The author has unrealistic expectations. Many first-time authors (we’ve all been there) expect to sell their books by the truckloads through mega bookstores. They believe that any good book will be eagerly welcomed by bookstore owners and managers. The reality is that few people outside of traditional royalty publishers with track records can get new books into bookstores. And space on bookstore shelves does not guarantee sales. In fact, books that are not selling will be returned—sometimes within the first six months.

As the author, you can get your books into bookstores. How? Make a big enough splash with your book that readers are swarming to bookstores asking for it by name. This might mean appearing on TV and radio with your book, presenting large seminars related to your book all over the U.S. and getting tons of press by creating news and submitting press releases to newspapers everywhere. Become high profile and get enough exposure for your book and, even if you are self-published or went with a fee-based self-publishing services, your book will be accepted for sale by bookstores everywhere.

5: The author gives promotion just a lick and a promise. Authors need to understand that book promotion is ongoing. It should start before you write the book and continue for as long as you want to sell books.

I watched some of our members sell books from the SPAWN booth at the enormous Los Angeles Times Festival of Books a few weekends ago. (That’s Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Some sat quietly, speaking to visitors only when being spoken to, and they sold a few books. Others engaged visitors enthusiastically, put the books in visitors’ hands, excitedly described their story, asked questions and listened intently, got the potential customers laughing and even took pictures with some of the children holding their books (with parental permission, of course). These authors sold many more copies of their books than did those who just sat quietly.

I share this as a reminder to authors that bookselling is not a passive activity. You must become and remain creatively involved as an enthusiastic agent for your book and constantly reach out to your audience.

6: The author gives up. I can’t tell you how often I hear, “I can’t sell my book, so what’s the use?” You won’t achieve the level of success you desire if you quit

There’s a lot to consider when entering the huge and competitive publishing business. And promotion is a major consideration. Whether you land a traditional royalty publisher, self-publish (establish your own publishing company) or go with a fee-based POD publishing service, it is up to the author to promote his or her book. And the time to start thinking about promotion is before you ever sit down and put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

Here’s a reminder, Patricia Fry is the executive director of SPAWN. She is also a full-time freelance writer and the author or 33 books (with three more in the works). Several of her books relate to writing and publishing. If you have a book to promote or a book in the works, you must add Patricia’s upcoming book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author, to your collection of reference books. You can pre-order it at Amazon.com NOW. It will debut in July of 2011 from Allworth Press/Skyhorse Publishing.

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

You wrote an amazing book, designed it to perfection and even managed to get it published. But it isn’t selling as well as you thought it would. What went wrong?

As the president of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) and an international speaker, I meet many authors who are disappointed in their book sales. I think it’s fair to say that 100 percent of the time the fault lies with the author and he or she has the power to change the situation. Here are three common mistakes first-time authors make and tips for how to avoid or repair them:

1: The author doesn’t know that he is responsible for promotion. Obviously, this author didn’t take the time and initiative to study the publishing industry or he would have known that his job isn’t over once the book is published. Hopefully, the author will turn to informative sites, newsletters, forums and books where he’ll quickly learn that authorship requires a commitment beyond the proper dotting of i’s and crossing of t’s.

He can still launch a marketing plan. He might solicit book reviews for publication in appropriate magazines and at related websites, submit press releases to newspapers and set up a speaking tour to promote his book, for example.

2: The author doesn’t take the opportunity to build promotion into his book while he’s writing it. Savvy authors think about their target audience while they are writing and designing their books. If yours would make a good reference book, for example, you’ll want to include a complete index. For a novel, choose a setting that is conducive to promotion—a town that others want to read about and that would welcome your promotional appearances locally.

You could build promotion into your how-to book by involving a lot of experts and/or organizations. These individuals and organization leaders will promote the book to their contacts. For a novel, give a character a popular ailment and present it in a positive light and related associations might just agree to help with promotion.

If you didn’t think to build promotion into your book as you were writing it, dissect it now in search of possible promotional opportunities that are imbedded within. Does your young adult novel feature a girl with a horse? Perhaps horse and riding magazines, newsletters and Web sites would review it, publish excerpts or welcome your targeted article on an aspect of horsemanship. Maybe you could get some press related to your self-help book for women with phobias through health columns in newspapers nationwide, women’s magazines or on radio talk shows such as “The Satellite Sisters.”

Did you interview a high profile individual for your book? Ask her to promote the book to her audience. Request an interview with her for a major magazine. Do you have some impressive expert testimonials in your book? Play them up in your promotional material.

3: The author neglects to establish a platform. Many new authors don’t know what a platform is. It’s the author’s following, his reach, his way of attracting his target audience, his connections and skills. Most successful authors today have a platform in place before they produce a book.

My platform for my writing/publishing-related books revolves around my experience in this field, my exposure through previously published and distributed books and articles on these subjects, my affiliation with SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) and my active and far-reaching speaking and workshop schedule.

Your platform for your book on phobias might be the fact that you’re a psychologist in this area of study, that you suffered a severe phobia for years, that you work with women with phobias, that you’ve written about this for years.

Even as a novelist, you’ll need a following and this can be established through published stories, popular/active Web site, the fact that you are accustomed to traveling around and speaking or are involved in storytelling. Maybe you are getting ready to retire and plan to travel and promote your book throughout states.

How can you play catch-up with regard to your platform? Start now getting exposure. Establish credibility in your field. Participate in forums on your topic, write letters to the editors of appropriate magazines and articles for magazines, speak to groups locally and beyond and create news.

I will share additional book promotion mistakes and remedies in tomorrow’s blog. In the meantime, check out my offerings here:
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

We’ve been talking a lot here about publishing—studying the industry, choosing a publisher, writing a book proposal, etc. But there is another aspect of publishing that you need to consider. It’s the huge task of book promotion.

Please do not discount the importance of your role in promoting your book. And this responsibility starts in the writing stages. That’s when you will determine, is there an audience for your book?

Before writing (or at least before completing) your book, do the research necessary to discover how extensive your audience is and determine how you will reach them.

Write a book proposal and concentrate on the marketing section. Do you have a platform (a following, connections, a way of reaching your readers)? What skills do you have that will contribute to promoting your book? Do you have a budget for travel, promotional items, etc?

There are a couple of facts you should know about book promotion:

• Book promotion is the hardest part of publishing.

• Your book will sell only for as long as you are promoting it.

• Most authors can sell more books face-to-face than any other way.

• There are countless methods of promoting a book, but not every promotional activity is right for every author and every book project.

One reason why I teach and preach that authors study the publishing industry, is so they understand the overwhelming task of book promotion, learn about some of the activities and so that they will begin formulating their promotions plan early in the writing/publishing process.

I’ve developed an online course for authors who need a greater understanding of book promotion. I offer a smorgasbord of promotional activities and challenge authors to try them all and see which ones fit best.

This is a 6-week course and you can sign up when you are ready.

If you are clueless about book promotion (most new authors are), or you have a book that isn’t doing well in the marketplace, sign up for my Book Promotion Workshop. If you follow-through and do the work, you won’t be disappointed.

http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm