Book Marketing

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Dedicated to Your Publishing & Book Marketing Success

Fact: Your author or book website is an important sales and marketing platform for your book and gives you a global presence. The Amazon.com bookstore is also a very important online presence for your book and you should work at getting reviews on Amazon. Many websites are very weak and can be greatly improved with their content, usability, design and search engine optimization. I develop author and book websites and can also advise you on a website makeover.


Dear Authors,


You should start thinking about marketing when you start writing your book. Who is your audience? How is your book unique? How can you make it stand out? Who will want to read it? Who will benefit from your book?


If it is fiction, what is the genre? What are the categories on Amazon.com into which it will fit?


I WORK WITH BOTH TRADITIONALLY-PUBLISHED AND SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS

I have written or worked on the development of many books. This includes being a ghostwriter and being involved in story development for books. I have extensive knowledge and experience in working with authors and publishers, and there is some good news and some bad news about publishing these days.


SELF PUBLISHING HAS BECOME THE CHOICE FOR MANY AUTHORS

The good news is that technology (print-on-demand and the Internet) has made it very affordable and easy to self publish and distribute your book. The bad news is that getting your book published by traditional publishers has become much more difficult. 


YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO MARKET YOUR OWN BOOK

No matter who publishes your book, yourself or a publisher, you are going to have to be the one to market the book. So many authors think if they get a publisher, the publisher will do all the marketing. That simply is not true. Therefore, you should seriously consider self-publishing and proving your book in the marketplace by promoting it yourself.


A BOOK IS A GREAT MARKETING TOOL FOR YOUR IDEAS, BUSINESS OR PRODUCT Writing a book can be one of the most powerful ways to position yourself as an authority or expert. It can be used as a tool to promote your ideas, yourself, your business or your product.


SELF-PUBLISHING CAN BE THE FIRST STEP IN GETTING A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER-- For many people, getting a major publisher is the first choice, but doing this can be challenging. Self-publishing as an option has become very acceptable and has actually been the initial route taken by many successful authors. You can use self-publishing to test your book and establish a market for it and then sell the reprint rights to major publishers. Or you can continue to sell your book directly to the public. 


Self Publish and Distribute Your eBook to the World In Just 48 Hours Using the Amazon Kindle Publishing Program-- If your manuscript is written and edited and ready-to-go, you can publish it very quickly using the Amazon eBook program. It is FREE! And you can earn high royalties (70%) if you price your eBook between $2.99 and $9.99. Compare this to trying to get a publisher. It can take years to get one. Chances are you won't get a publisher anyway unless you are a celebrity or someone with a large following of fans already. Even if you get a publisher, it usually will take two years for your book to come out. And, by the way, you will still have to do the marketing for your book yourself. The only authors they invest money in are those who are big names already. You see, they want to make a profit and reduce their risk with unknown and untested authors.


The eBook Revolution-- In the first quarter of 2012, for the first time ever, the net sales revenues from eBooks has exceeded that of hardcover books. Price Waterhouse is predicting that by 2016, eBooks will make up 50% of the U.S. trade book market and the total U.S. consumer book market (print + digital) will be worth $21 billion, up from $19.5 billion in 2011. 


Publishing Market Shows Steady Title Growth in 2011 Fueled Largely by Self-Publishing Sector –The numbers of imprints and editors at the Big Six publishing firms continue to contract, and the majority of midlist authors are moving either to self-publishing or small presses. Print books will not go away. However, there will be relatively fewer of them; certain types of books will continue to be published primarily as print books, while other types will be published primarily as eBooks. More books will be done as Print On Demand.


The Self Publishing Revolution Has Only Just Begun –In the digital age, self-publishing is an idea whose time has come. There is now a low barrier to entry for authors through low-cost self-publishing and book distribution options. Self-publishing offers anyone with a manuscript and a credit card the opportunity to publish. Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble.com help writers cut out the middlemen—including editors and agents—and publish their work directly with them.


MidList Writers Turn to Self-Publishing–For the overwhelming majority of midlist writers, those without a history of best-selling books and those without a pre-existing “platform” of fame and public recognition, traditional publication by a large publishing house will be (and, for the most part, already is) a fading dream, a “winning the lottery” type of event. These writers will turn to self-publishing.


Examples of successful books that were originally self-published include: The Christmas Box, The One Minute Manager, Life's Greatest Lessons, Sugar Busters, The Schwarzbein Principle, The Joy of Cooking, Mary Ellen's Best of Helpful Hints, In Search of Excellence, Rich Dad-Poor Dad, The Lazy Man's Way to Riches, Dianetics, Cliff Notes, You Can Heal Your Life, and Creative Visualization.


FACT: In a survey conducted by the American Association of Publishers, 80% of Americans stated they would like to write a book.


I work with an international clientele, and most of my work is on a retainer or project basis, however, I am also available on a limited basis for some individual consultations. If you are interested in learning more about how we might be able to work together, please feel free to contact me by calling 952-595-8888 or e-mailing me at joan at holman.com (using the @ sign between Joan and holman.com). 


To your success,

Joan Holman

Book Marketing Diva & Internet Marketing Guru

Joan Holman Productions



P.S. I am a lot of fun to work with!



Myths About Writing A Nonfiction Book

  1. Your book will be an overnight success. In fact, it usually takes a major investment of time, effort and/or money to promote a book.
  2. Literary agents want manuscripts for review. Agents want proposals, not manuscripts.
  3. You need to be a great writer to get a publisher. What publishers are really looking for are great marketers. If you are a great marketer, they can edit your book to improve your writing.
  4. Publishers main consideration in buying your book is great content. Although content is important, publishers want to sell books, so they want authors who already have a platform (i.e., audience) and who will use that platform to sell their books.
  5. Books stay in bookstores indefintely. In fact, a large number of books get returned to the publisher or are remaindered on the "dollar" table.
  6.  Getting people to buy your book is all about how good your book is. Actually, many mediocre books have sold a lot of copies because of a great marketing strategy and sales effort.
  7. Your publisher will market your book. Today, publishers expect authors to market their own books. In fact, the ability to market your own book is how publishers will decide whether they publish your book or not.The publisher will print your book and get it into stores, but you must promote your book yourself.
  8. Book sales will make you rich. In fact, only 1% of books published ever sell more than 50,000 copies in the entire lifetime of the book. The real way to make money is by using the book to help promote your business, your speaking career, your consulting career, or to sell related products. 


FACT: Most books are sold outside of bookstores.


Writing A Book

  • Create a Working Title for the Book
  • Summarize the Concept for the Book
  • List Your Credentials that Are Relevant to the Book
  • Name Some Books that Compete with Your Book
  • Create A Chapter by Chapter Outline of the Book
  • Create A Couple of Sample Chapters
  • Describe the Target Audience for the Book
  • Detail How You Will Market the Book 


FACT: Literary agents require book proposals to be double-spaced and un-bound.


Book Development & Book Marketing Tips

  • You can start your writing career by publishing content on the Internet.
  • Write a weekly or monthly newsletter or blog and position yourself as an expert.
  • Develop a large database of names and contact info for people who are interested in what you have to say.
  • You can test possible book names by using Google Ad Words, like Timonthy Ferriss did for his bestselling book The 4-Hour Workweek
  • You should create a short video to post on YouTube and other sites to promote your book
  • If you are going to submit a proposal to a literary agent, you should hire an experienced freelance editor to critique it and help you make it compelling
  • Get a great photo of yourself to include in your book proposal, to put on your web site and to use in all your marketing materials 


HARNESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK

Today, authors and publishers are harnessing the power of the Internet to market books. Your book should have at least a dedicated web page, if not an entire web site. Short videos on YouTube can promote your book. Getting mentioned in blogs can promote your book. Using online news releases, giving away free chapters or even your entire book can actually help you boost visibility and sales of hard copies of your book. There are Internet-based radio shows that can interview you, knowledge-sharing web sites where you can submit articles related to your book, and discussion groups that are related to your book topic. 



Joan Holman Other Services: Manuscript Evaluation, Ghostwriting, Editing & Book Development Consultation

© copyright 2016 Joan Holman Productions • 13033 Ridgedale Drive, Suite 167, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55305 • PHONE: 952-595-8888 • www.bookmarketingdiva.com