Writing and Publishing News from

Among our lively discussions at SPAWNDiscuss this week, are exchanges about book review sites. Probably the two most common aspects of book promotion for most new authors are book signings and book reviews. As hopeful authors, we envision ourselves signing books in mega-bookstores nationwide for fans who are lined up out the door of the store.

The reality is that we might sit alone for hours in a local independent bookstore waiting for someone to step up to the table and express even a tad of interest in our books.

I advocate book signings and demonstrations at non-bookstore sites, as well. If your book has a character who flies a private plane, arrange to sign books at the small airports in your county. Maybe your story includes a charming dog or cat character. Or you’ve written a book of cat stories. Get permission to spend a Saturday morning at local veterinarians’ offices and pet stores with your book. You get the idea…

There are several levels of book reviews. When an author speaks of the all-important book review, sometimes he or she is referring to the revered pre-publication book reviews. Other authors consider reviews at online book review sites to be most valuable to their book sales—especially if those “reviews” appear on their page at Amazon.com.

Some reviews are actually just customer comments. Fellow authors will make positive comments or customers will give a brief compliment which the author will use at their Amazon page and maybe at their own website.

And then there is my favorite type of book review—those appearing in appropriate magazines.
This is where you locate magazines and newsletters related to the topic or genre of your book and you solicit reviews. Not every magazine publishes reviews. But those that do, truly provide a marvelous service to authors like you and me.

Think about it, wouldn’t you likely go out and purchase a book on a subject of your interest that received a rave review in your favorite magazine?

One of my most successful books was The Mainland Luau, How to Capture the Flavor of Hawaii in Your Own Backyard. And the reason it sold so well was mainly because of the reviews I solicited and that were published in numerous cooking, foods, barbecue magazines and newsletters as well as the food section of newspapers nationwide.

Note: This book was self-published through my own publishing company, Matilija Press. I did two printings. In 1999, it was picked up by a traditional royalty publisher.

Not every topic is as conducive to as many review possibilities as are cookbooks. But there certainly are plenty of opportunities for most books to be reviewed.

The teacher in me can’t help but leave you with an assignment. Sit down and list the magazines and newsletters that might publish reviews of your fiction or nonfiction book. Then check to find out if each of them publishes book reviews. Some have stipulations against self-published or POD published books. Many others do not. And don’t worry about circulation numbers. It’s better to have your book reviewed in 30 newsletters with 100 to 1,000 circulation and a dozen magazines with 10,000 to 40,000 readers than to walk away from the idea of book reviews altogether because a major magazine with 1,000,000 circulation won’t review your book.

Exposure, exposure, exposure. It’s all about exposure.

Resources
Links to 240 online book review sites:
http://www.complete-review.com/links/links.html#linksb

Links to dozens more online book review sites:
http://www.acqweb.org/bookrev.html

It’s not too late to sign up for my Book Promotion Course. It starts today, but I’m extending the sign up to September 14, 2009 AND I’m offering a free copy of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, if you sign up between now and September 14, 2009.

The course starts today, Tuesday, September 8 and runs for 6 weeks. However, if you sign up even as late as September 14, I will help you catch up with the other students. Learn more about the free book here: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Sign up for the course here: http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

Once you’ve signed up for the course, contact me to receive your free book. PLFry620@yahoo.com.

Are you an author with a website? What do you have at your site? I imagine that you display your book cover and a description of the book. Most likely you have a merchant account or PayPal, so folks can buy your book on the spot. Or, at least, you provide a link to Amazon or another book selling site where they can purchase it. You may also have “about us” and “contact us” pages.

But what else do you have that will hold the visitor’s attention? What will make him or her want to stay long enough to establish a connection with your book—to trust you enough to want to purchase your book? Do you even know what it would take?

For a nonfiction book, history, biography, children’s book or a memoir it may be a resources page.

I have a huge resource section at my website where I attempt to provide the links and other access to the material authors and freelance writers need. I post dozens of articles on the subject of writing, publishing, book promotion and even public speaking. And, of course, I provide this informative blog.

What can you do to attract your readers’ attention? You could have a page where you tell the back story to your memoir or post some photos and excerpts from the book. These could certainly entice a browser to become a customer. Or you might go a step further and provide links to some of the better research sites for writing history or for locating the best children’s books. If your book focuses on a particular illness or affliction, provide links to sites that offer additional information. Maybe your book features a unique educational application. Offer links, articles and other resources on this topic.

What would attract readers/customers to the site of a novelist? How about a page of links to online book clubs and discount online bookstores? If your novel fits into a category, such as romance, historical, Indian lore, etc., consider reciprocal links with authors of similar books. We all know that an avid reader of novels can’t stop with just one.

More than ever before, we’re noticing that creativity and generosity is key to making the sale. So let’s all find ways to be more giving. Let’s weave creativity into our marketing efforts. In fact, I’ll start!

This is a first-time offer and I’m making it good for one week only. It expires September 14, 2009. Anyone who signs up for my online Book Promotion Course this week gets a FREE copy of my hallmark, 5-star book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. The course starts Tuesday, September 8 and runs for 6 weeks. However, if you sign up even as late as September 14, I will help you catch up with the other students. Learn more about this book here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html.

Sign up for the course here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

Once you’ve signed up for the course, contact me to receive your free book. PLFry620@yahoo.com.

We’ve had some lively discussions through SPAWNDiscuss lately about ad-supported writing (selling ads to place in our books), promoting other similar books inside our books and bundling—or offering groups of books by different authors on similar topics at a discounted price. Some SPAWN members are also talking about offering free ebooks in order to get exposure for their print books and/or their services.

These ideas offend some authors. They believe that ads tend to corrupt or diminish good works. They feel that an author won’t be taken seriously if he publishes advertisements in his book.

Many authors view the concept of bundling with disdain. They won’t consider teaming up with their competition even if it means selling a few more books. And who, in their right mind would offer ebooks for free?

I’ve talked about piggyback marketing over the years. This means actually taking on another author’s similar (or complimentary) book and selling it alongside yours. You might carry it to book festivals along with your own book, include promo material on this book with your book shipments and so forth. And the author of that book would do the same for you.

I carry Mark Levine’s book, “The Fine Print of Self-Publishing” with me when I give presentations because I think it is such a valuable resource for anyone who is contemplating going with one of the fee-based self-publishing companies. (In his book, Mark rates and ranks 45 of these companies and their contracts.) I have a few authors living and traveling throughout the U.S. who carry my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book when they give presentations and workshops on their unrelated topics because they get so many questions about publishing. They recommend my book above all others, so they carry it with them to sell or just show.

When I was promoting my metaphysical memoir, I did piggyback marketing with another author who had a very different book within this category. We knew that people who read my book would probably enjoy hers, and vice versa.

I think we’re finding more and more—that is, if we’re paying attention—that, as authors, we’re not in competition with one another. Someone who reads novels, reads many novels throughout his or her lifetime. Those who are researching aspects of publishing and marketing will generally study several books on the topic. A reader who is interested in quilting, doll-collecting, gardening, woodworking or genealogy, for example, is bound to purchase more than one book on the subject.

Perhaps it is time that authors and publishers stop spending so much money and energy on competing and begin joining together in their efforts to foster reading, teach literacy and provide good writing on many topics. Rather than battling, let’s try bundling. Instead of trying to outshine everyone around us, what if we attempted to glow and grow together?

If you’d like to learn more about ad-supported writing/publishing, bundling and numerous other concepts and activities related to publishing and writing, join SPAWN and become a part of SPAWNDiscuss. http://www.spawn.org

If you are struggling to promote your book, you might want to consider signing up for my 6-week online book promotion workshop. It may very well be the best $200 you’ll spend this fall. Learn more about what the workshop entails at:
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion.htm

I’m still vacationing, but carved out a pocket of time to touch base with all of you who enjoy this blog. Besides, all play and no work makes for a rather dull mind, right?

It has occurred to me that a writer is never completely at play or at rest. It seems that there is always a story or an article idea rolling around in our heads. We’re constantly thinking about ways to promote our books. While relaxing on the beach this week, for example, I’ve been doing some pleasure reading—something I do far too seldom. I’ve had time to sit and ponder and contemplate all sorts of thoughts as I watch the waves and walk in the surf. I’m also engaged in face-to-face conversations with the various family members, friends and new acquaintances who show up to enjoy the beach house we rented.

This week-long beach vacation is providing me with many varied opportunities to come up with article and blog ideas, to enrich my perception and thought processes and even to better serve my clients/students and our SPAWN members.

My daughter has started teaching in the nursing program at our local college and, a few days ago, we discussed techniques for bringing forth our years of learned and experienced knowledge into the classroom. We agreed that one often doesn’t know what he or she knows until students begin drawing it out of you. The same is true of conversations. We really must listen to our students, clients and customers in order to be able to better help or serve them.

I urge you to get out among people. Discuss your book and aspects of your career. Pay attention to what interests or intrigues others. What sort of questions do they ask? What do they want to know about your field? How do they respond to the information and anecdotes you share?

Participate eagerly in conversation. Listen. Be observant. And then take what you can back with you to your career, your classroom or your potential customers.

Learn more about me and my books and services at http://www.matilijapress.com

Are you familiar with Dr. Oz—the heart surgeon and alternative health advocate who visits Oprah’s show fairly regularly? I learned of him when our local news station began running his one-minute health segments. It fascinates me how he can share good information and make an excellent point within a scant one-minute pocket of time. And it occurred to me that authors with books to promote ought to take a hint from Dr. Oz.

If you have a blog, write articles to promote your book, go out and talk to groups on subjects related to your book, you probably know how to dice up your topic and create many, many subtopics just like the good doctor does. Or do you struggle with this every time you must give a speech, post a blog or pitch an article?

I talk about “ideas” often in this blog. Recently, I wrote about how to come up with good ideas. But how do you dice and slice your specific topic in order to create enough important or pertinent mini-topics to present? And then how do you mince these mini-topics into useful news bits, hints, tips…

Think about it, did you put everything you know or that you could find out in your book? If you’re like most authors of nonfiction books, you know a lot more than you included in your book and you’re aware of many areas where you could have expanded the material. Plus, there are probably new facts and perspectives emerging all the time that you could write about. So gleaning from your book is just one way to come up with article or speech ideas. You also want to tap into all of that stuff you didn’t put in your book.

Here’s an exercise that might be useful for all of us to pursue:

1: Write down every topic and subtopic and min-topic you can think of related to your book’s theme. Use your Table of Contents, index, headings and subheadings for prompts. Then go to other books, the internet, etc. to discover things you haven’t written about, yet or that you have only skimmed over in your book and presentations.

2: Dissect each of those topics and continue your list. Don’t stop until you have at least 50 valid topics that you could develop into articles, columns, blogs, fillers or even a powerful one-minute podcast or radio spot. (100 would be even better—365 would be WOW!)

3: From your list, choose 10 to flesh out and then use them in some way this week. Create fillers for appropriate publications, write articles for a paying market, prepare some informative blog posts and/or write a powerful speech or two using some of these themes.

So often, nonfiction authors are inclined to present the “all about” book, article or speech. But the most effective presentations are actually those that focus. When we try to give it all, we may lose a portion of our audience. If we focus and present only one aspect of one topic using no more than 3 points, we have a better chance of connecting with our audience in a more meaningful way.

Do you watch and listen to TV and radio commercials? You can learn a lot from them. The more effective ones are good examples of how to focus—how to say a lot in a short time with clarity.

If you are promoting a nonfiction book, consider your pitch material. Is it clear? Powerful? Meaningful? It’s actually quite okay to promote through detailed articles and speeches. But I urge you to also have, as part of your marketing plan, crisp, to-the-point, focused promotional material on hand.

Many authors are struggling to sell books. That’s why I wrote my ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit, Heal Your Publishing Mistakes and Breathe New Life Into Your Book. This book features the “after publication” book proposal—a concept unique to Patricia Fry and Matilija Press.
http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html