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Do you watch your book’s positioning at Amazon? I have started doing this more often since my latest book came out. I go to Amazon sometimes several times a day—sometimes a few times a week—to see where my book, Promote Your Book, fits into the scheme of Amazon things.

Yesterday it was over a million (not good). Today it is number 140,590. What happened to change the numbers so dramatically? They say the positioning has to do with number of sales. But also it reflects how other books are moving or not moving.

I wondered what might have happened to cause my book to rise some million and a half points higher today than it was yesterday. Perhaps there were some books involved in those fake promotions where the author has all of his friends buy copies of the book on a certain day. It seems to me this creates a false reality for all of the books. When many other books are soaring in popularity, others might drop way down. And when things level off again for those temporarily popular books, the positioning of all the other books returns to a more realistic level.

Or it could be that my book has simply been selling. Since I’m not the publisher of this book and I don’t receive the orders, I have no way of knowing how it’s doing. But I do know that I’ve gained some new followers on Twitter—some of them might have bought it. I’ve had some articles published within the last week to ten days—this might have spurred some new sales. Folks may have started listening to my interviews posted at various Internet sites or reading some of my 5-star reviews. Maybe it’s payday for authors who have been saving to buy a copy of my book. Perhaps subscribers to SPAWNews saw the announcement about my new book and several of them ordered copies this week. Or the influx of orders is a result of this blog. It could be that the publisher is doing some promotion I’m not aware of.

Here’s another possibility: I’ve sold copies of Promote Your Book at several venues since it came out in August in Anchorage and several locations in California, as well as through my website and through Amazon. Maybe some of those customers are starting to tell others about the book and they are ordering copies.

Actually, the reason for the rise toward the top of the book chain at Amazon is probably a combination of all of these things. And this is why I urge you to engage in all manner of promotion with regard to your own books. Get lots of book reviews, write articles/stories for magazines/e-zines your customers read, sell books at book festivals and conferences, use social media, etc. and make sure your book is available for sale where your readers shop,

For many great book promotion ideas, order your print or Kindle copy of >Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author at Amazon, IndieBound, B&N.com, the publisher’s website or my own website. But order it!

http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html

http://www.allworth.com/Promote_Your_Book_p/1-58115-857-1.htm

http://amzn.to/oe56Ia

People often ask me, “What’s the best publishing option?” I respond by saying, “It depends on you and it depends on your project.” Authors also ask, “What’s the best way to promote a book?” And my answer is the same, “It depends on you and it depends on your book.”

I’ve written many, many blog posts and articles, as well as books, on book promotion. Some of the articles and chapters reflect specific promotional ideas for certain types of books—e-books, novels, children’s books, etc. Today, I’d like to point up some of the specialty marketing ideas authors can pursue on behalf of their particular books. And I invite you to share some of your more creative and more successful book promotion ideas for your children’s book, mystery, how-to, memoir, novel, etc.

I told you recently about the two authors with a book of funny quips and big sense of humor who set up a lemonade stand in front of a busy Sunday farmer’s market. They charged $10 for a glass of lemonade and gave each customer a free copy of their book. Clever and cute and it worked for these funny guys.

I love the idea of having home parties to promote mysteries, and some other types of novels. Bring props and costumes and ask guests to help you act out a scene from your story. This could be a take off on the old murder mystery shows where guests participated in solving the crime.

For a cookbook or various types of how-to books, the author can give demonstrations during home parties, at community fairs and events and even during club meetings and conference presentations. Show how to caramelize onions, roast vegetables, make quick and tasty condiments, apply first aid, build a birdhouse, use household items as beauty aids, etc. I have a friend who used to demonstrate how to make some of the crème brulee recipes from her book. I once presented a full-blown luau to promote my book on presenting a luau on the mainland.

Children’s books sell best when presented to children in some interesting, enticing way by an upbeat author. I’ve watched children’s books fly from booths at book festivals and flea markets when the author interacts with young visitors to the booth and/or their parents or grandparents. And I’ve known authors to sell books by the crate after reading from their books to groups of children in schools, at libraries, etc.

You’ll notice that all of my examples depict the author involved in face-to-face interactions with their readers. That’s because I believe this is one of the best ways to promote many books. I sell my books on publishing and book promotion to people who have heard me speak on an aspect of these topics. Folks who follow this blog also purchase my books, as do authors who read my articles in other publications. In the case of reference and how-to books, the author must demonstrate his or her credibility in the field in order to gain the trust of their proposed audience.

When you engage in book promotion, do you strive to gain a rapport with your targeted readers? Do you seek ways to attract readers through personality as well as credibility?

What are some of your favorite book promotion activities? Which ones work best for you and for your particular book?

For help with your book marketing plan and for some creative new book promotion ideas, read my latest book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author (Allworth Press). Order your copy at Amazon today. http://amzn.to/oe56Ia

There are many types of activities involved in book promotion and they require varying degrees of energy, time, planning and preparation. That’s why I maintain that you’ll be a more successful book promoter if you can learn to pace yourself while pursuing these activities. Here are some ideas:

List the initial activities that you want to pursue—those most conducive to your book and your audience. For a historical novel set in Connecticut, your primary list may include: send press releases to Connecticut newspapers, historical societies and bookstores; contact book clubs nationally; request book reviews by all major reviewers; solicit friends and colleagues to post reviews at Amazon; submit stories/excerpts to historical magazines and websites; become guest blogger or arrange for interviews at key blog sites; set up presentations at local venues; if you do not live in the locale where the story is set, plan a trip to that state and schedule book signings, speaking engagements, visits to bookstores that are not carrying your book and so forth.

If you’re promoting a young adult fantasy, your list might include, pursue appropriate book review sites; present programs to middle school students; submit stories to appropriate magazines and mention your book in the bio; do a blog tour and set up some games and other things of interest to young people visiting your website.

For a nonfiction book featuring natural beauty secrets, you may want to, post blogs daily at your own blog site and lead visitors to your blog by using Twitter and Facebook; comment at other pertinent blog sites often; plan presentations at many venues where your audience congregates; arrange for your book to be recommended reading at sites related to beauty products, health, etc; write articles for a wide variety of magazines and research appropriate trade shows and plan to attend with your book.

While continuing with these activities, you’ll also eventually add such things as, participating in book festivals (I recommend signing up for all local festivals and traveling to some of the major ones); piggyback marketing; speaking at appropriate conferences across the U.S.; creating spin-offs to entice more sales and so forth.

Prioritize activities, but also intermingle them. You can be sending out review copies and press kits while scheduling speaking engagements and keeping up your daily blog. You can seek guest blogger opportunities while offering excerpts from your book to key publications. You might plan a home party where guests will be encouraged to join you in acting out scenes from your book while running a contest to bring more awareness to your book.

That’s nearly two dozen book promotion ideas. All of these ideas and around 225 more are in my new book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Available now at Amazon in print and Kindle http://amzn.to/oe56Ia. Can also be ordered through any bookstore or IndieBound or B&N.com. Or purchase it from the author’s website: http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html

By the way, check out my guest post at Marcie Hill’s Marcie Writes blog this morning. http://www.marciewrites.wordpress.com October 18, 2011.

Do you open yourself up to being interviewed with regard to your published book? I suggest that you agree to interviews and that you seek them out. How can being interviewed by a blogger, editor or radio/TV show host benefit you and your book?

• Having your interview published in a magazine, newsletter, blog site or website, for example, is a good way to expand your readership and become more widely known.

• It gives you new material to use in your promotion. You can point your blog, Twitter and Facebook followers to the interview, post excerpts at your website, use portions of it in your promo pieces, and so forth.

• Your responses to the interview questions may give you food for thought about your project, your promotional tactics and your career. This can be an opportunity to reflect and possibly regroup and adopt new strategies.

• The questions and your responses might inspire you to compose new articles for appropriate publications and even write new books or booklets related to your topic or the theme of your book.

• Interviews can be challenging. When you’re speaking off the cuff, you don’t always know how the questions will be framed and what sort of responses you will give. It’s not easy to respond intelligently and succinctly on the spur of the moment. So each interview is a learning experience and good practice for live presentations.

Tip: Toastmasters is a good place to learn how to effectively give interviews as each club meeting includes the opportunity to participate in Table Topics, an impromptu speaking exercise.

Can you give examples of how granting interviews around the theme of your book has helped you in some way?

Giving interviews is just one of many book promotion ideas outlined in my latest book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, No-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. http://amzn.to/oe56Ia

Yesterday was Ojai Day—a day of celebration for our community. A portion of our main street is closed and booths crop up throughout our city park, and up and down several streets. It’s quite festive with the aroma of freshly popping corn, booths alive with children blowing bubbles, climbing on a fire truck, getting their little faces painted, etc. and adults browsing the many booths bursting with the wares of local artisans. There’s jewelry of all kinds, items of cloth, yarn, wood, clay and other materials as well as olive oil, candles and more. This year, there was an Author’s Pavilion where local authors could present their books to the public. I was there all day with some of my books and about a dozen other authors.

I must comment here that flea market-type events like this are not the best places to sell most books—but I still encourage you to participate in those in your area. Go ahead and set up a booth or share a booth with someone and talk to passersby about your book. Depending on your book, your demeanor and the crowd, you might sell a few copies or a lot. But one thing you will definitely gain is exposure. Whether anyone buys a copy of your book or not, you will have the opportunity to show it to potential customers, talk about it, hand out marketing material, and make suggestions for purchasing it, perhaps, in the future. Once you’ve introduced your book to people, the next time they see it—at a local independent bookstore, in a specialty store they visit, reviewed online, mentioned in the local newspaper or on the coffee table at someone’s house—they will remember it and maybe become a step or two closer to actually purchasing it. Exposure, exposure, exposure.

Another reason for attending these events with your book is for the education. You’ll learn more about the best way to display your books. You’ll figure out what approach works best on behalf of your book. You’ll also get book promotion ideas from other authors.

Here’s an interesting book promotion idea I gleaned while chatting among the other author. A couple of cool gentlemen recently came out with a humorous book of their favorite sayings. They sold quite a few books yesterday. Why? The book is inexpensive. It is a great conversation piece—thus it makes a good gift for the person who has everything (or nothing). It’s small and easy to carry around in a purse or tote. The authors had told numerous people they would be selling their book at this event—so a good number of their customers were friends/acquaintances. The authors were personable and had some irresistible sales pitches. And they’re creative promoters.

For example, recently, they set up a lemonade stand outside the local Sunday Farmer’s Market. One of the authors told me that they should have contacted the Guinness record-keepers as he’s pretty sure they were the oldest people to ever run a lemonade stand. Their gimmick was; buy a glass of lemonade for $10 and get a free book.

One author in our Author’s Pavilion yesterday, had a slow start with her array of children’s books. Not much was happening for her and, in fact, the configuration of the booth was not great for the sake of exposure. Visitors had to walk deep inside a large booth in order to see her books. So she sent her husband out where the crowd was walking past and he started handing out bookmarks and inviting those people with children inside the booth to take a look at her books.

She was quite busy selling and signing her books for the rest of the afternoon.

This idea is actually in my new book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. The lemonade stand idea is not. However, I do encourage authors to think outside the box and come up with interesting, off-the-wall, clever, creative, imaginative ideas for promoting their books. And the ideas should, of course, go along with the theme, style, focus, genre of their books. Neither of these promotional ideas I mentioned here today would probably work well with my new book on book promotion. It is a niche book of interest to a specific audience (like those of you who read this blog). Strategies that might work are piggyback marketing—packaging my book with a book on how to write a book proposal, fiction-writing techniques, choosing the right publisher for your book, etc. I sell books at writers’ conferences, especially when I conduct one or more workshops and when I speak at writers’ group meetings. I also sell this book through this blog. Order your copy now:
http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html
Or at Amazon.com http://amzn.to/oe56Ia