Archive for February, 2013

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Promote Your Book Out of Town

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

This is excerpted from my latest ebooklet which I will offer for free as soon as I get it finished (maybe today). It’s called, “50 Ways to Sell Your Book Through Your Personality.”

If you have a book to promote, you’ll probably be out doing some public speaking to bring attention to it. This is highly recommended. Well, you’ll most likely be more warmly welcomed and your programs more well-attended when you speak locally, where you are known. But if you have a trip planned or your book is connected in some way to another city or state, I urge you to consider traveling and speaking. Maybe you live in Mississippi, but your novel is set in Connecticut. See about speaking to residents at various venues in this state. If you’re planning to visit family in another city, set up radio interviews, book signings and speaking engagements while there.

I often combine pleasure and business when I travel. Once when I visited a friend in Arizona, I arranged to speak to a group of writers at a local library. We took a trip to Nashville and I met with a group of writers in a large bookstore there. I find that it helps to have the assistance and support of locals to help you set up these out-of-town events. This is just another reason why it is important that you spend time researching organizations online and connecting with others in your field, industry, interest or genre.

In my situation, I am already known through many channels related to publishing and book promotion because of my longtime and ongoing article contributions to industry publications, my appearances at so many writing conferences, my high-profile status as executive director of SPAWN, my eight-year-old daily blog and so forth. So when I plan a trip out of town, I do an Internet search for writers’ groups in the area. I contact group leaders as far in advance as I can—a year or several months is ideal—and try to set something up. In this case, the writers’ group leader already has venues in mind, she or he has access to their groups’ email list. They do the promo. All I have to do is show up.

But keep in mind, that I may not have been invited if I hadn’t taken the initiative and made the contact. Here’s another reminder that YOU need to think of yourself as the CEO of your book—foremost and always.

This ebooklet will cover 50 types of promotion you can do personally and many tips for participating in them. Watch for this valuable freebie to come to Patriciafry.com. In the meantime, you can still download 50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success. FREE. http://www.patriciafry.com

If you missed my other two ebooklets which I offered for free for a period, you can still order them for $3.95 here: http://www.matilijapress.com They are “50 Ways to Sell Your Ebooks.” (You’ll be amazed at some of the ideas) and “50 Reasons Why You Should Publish That Book.” (This ebooklet will let you know if you are ready to publish or not.)

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50 Ways to Market Your Ebook

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Are you aware of my ebook, “50 Ways to Sell Your Ebook?” I offer it for sale at my website for $3.95. http://www.matilijapress.com

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction to this ebook:
Some of you may recall when the big six publishers looked down their noses at the ebook concept and refused to get involved with something so new fangled and risky. They allowed the small and independent publishers to pave the way and prove the value of the ebook. Now, some of the big publishers are earning as much as 22 percent of their revenue through digital book sales.
Statisticians are busy keeping track of ebook sales. But few dare to guess at the number of ebooks available. Internet news source, Publicola, recently did some serious research through Amazon.com, RR Bowker, Barnes and Noble and others, and concluded that there are more than ten million ebooks available in the US. Publishing Industry stats show that 85 percent of print book publishers plan to produce both print and ebooks in the future.
Yes, ebooks are here and, apparently, here to stay. So it’s no wonder that authors are interested in exploring the digital publishing avenue. Many of the questions I field these days as the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) and a workshop leader and speaker at writers’ conferences and writers’ group meetings, relate to publishing and marketing ebooks. That’s why I decided to prepare this report for you.

Note to Novelists
In case you’re wondering if the material in this ebooklet is for you, let me say that at least forty-eight of the fifty ideas relate to fiction ebooks as well as nonfiction. In most cases, I’ve pointed out exactly how to incorporate these activities and ideas in the promotion of your novels. If you have trouble wrapping your artistic brain around some of these ideas, just email me for further instruction and support. PLFry620@yahoo.com

How to Locate Ebook Publishers
In this ebooklet, I address book promotion as it applies to ebooks. For information about ebook publishing, let me direct you to the Internet. When I did an Internet search using keywords, “publish ebook,” I got over sixty-eight million results. I suggest that you use these keywords, note several links, study the companies, compare them, do additional research on those you may consider and make an informed decision. Here are a couple of directories of ebook publishers: http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/epublishers.html (includes around sixty companies). http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory/media/ebook-publishers (nearly 900 ebook publishers listed).

Order this ebook today and discover many additional useful links and tons of ideas for promoting your book using your personality and through the Internet.
http://www.matilijapress.com

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Tips for Children’s Book Authors

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Are you writing or thinking about writing a children’s book? It’s not as easy as you might think. There are standards and rules for children’s literature. And in children’s book writing, age makes a difference—not your age, but the age of the audience. You need to understand the vocabulary for the age group you are writing for and the recommended page number, words per page, types of illustrations, etc.

Here are three things I’d like you to take into consideration when you are writing for children.

• Take a course in writing for children. Read books by professionals.

• Read books in the age group you are writing for. Lots of them. Study the style, the vocabulary, the structure, size, number of page, illustrations.

• Read your book to children and let children read it before you ever approach a publisher. If dozens of children in your target age group go bananas over your story, perhaps you are on the right track.

How do you find children to read to? Perhaps in your neighborhood. With their parents’ permission, of course, see if you can gather them together some sunny afternoon and read to them. Or hand out copies of a prototype of your book and ask them to read it.

Volunteer to read to the children in the Sunday school program at your church some Sunday.

Connect with your local library. Do they have story time for kids? Ask if either you or the regular reader could read your book during a session. If there is no scheduled story time for kids, set one up. Observe the children carefully as you read.

Get into the schools. It can sometimes be tough to get in. Private schools might be more flexible. And if your book teaches a character lesson (gratitude, thoughtfulness, honesty, etc.) you may have a better chance of being invited to come in and read it to the children.

I have some great ideas for promoting children’s books in my book, “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.” It’s available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio. It can also be found at other online and downtown bookstores. Or order your copy here: http://www.matilijapress.com

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How to Start and Maintain an Active Blog

Monday, February 25th, 2013

Most mornings I have no problem coming up with a message to share via this blog. Other times, I don’t feel so inspired. Well, how many of you have written 1,749 posts or articles over a period of 7 ½ years? Yes, this is post number 1,750. At this rate, I will reach number 2,000 by the end of the year.

Some people think it is amazing that someone could maintain a blog at this pace. Others think it’s rather crazy. Why do I do it? Why do I suggest that other authors take time out of their day or week to post blogs pertinent to their book topic or genre? It’s another good way to get exposure for your book(s), to gain credibility in your field or genre, to attract customers/readers and to give something of value to your potential readers.

It may seem daunting to be responsible for writing a blog post every day or even every week. But think about it, if you could write a whole book, if you can write promotion copy, if you can write articles/stories for publication and speeches, you can probably come up with topics to maintain a valuable and/or entertaining blog.

Here are some tips to help you get started and that will also serve to give you more confidence as a blogger:

• Dissect your book and see how many subjects and sub-topics you can list.

• Dissect these subjects even more, slice and dice them into miniscule topics.

• Study other books and articles on your topic and come up with even more ideas.

• Study other blogs to see what others are talking about. Read their comments to learn what their readers are interested in.

• Learn to take small topics and write big about them.

• Practice creating several posts on one sub-topic.

• Ask friends to help you come up with blog topics. Bring together a group of good friends, a little wine, a few snacks and just watch the ideas flow.

Learn more about starting and maintaining a blog as well as article/story-writing as a way to build your platform—your credibility—and get more exposure for your books in my books: Publish Your Book, Promote Your Book and Talk Up Your Book. All three books are at Amazon.com available in print, kindle and audio.

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You are in Control of Your Publishing Success (or Failure)

Sunday, February 24th, 2013

There are certain things that I constantly harp on. And sometimes I repeat my mantra over and over to the same clients, audiences and students. When speaking to groups of writers in various cities, often a hand will go up during the Q and A session and the individual will ask me something that I covered quite sufficiently in my spiel. How did he miss it? Why don’t some of my clients/students get what I so carefully and thoroughly pass along to them? Am I a poor teacher?

No. Some authors are in deep denial. They ask the same question again and again hoping for a new answer—one that they can accept and digest—something that is more within their comfort zone.

Some new authors don’t want to write a book for their audience. They want to write it strictly for themselves and, once they pay to have it published, they wonder why they can’t get people interested in reading it.

Many authors won’t accept responsibility for promoting their books—they don’t believe they should have to do anything other than write it and make it available. Later, they chalk up their failure to the fact that bookstores won’t carry their books or that they didn’t get that big break on the Jay Leno show like they should have.

Authors don’t believe me (and other professionals) when I say they need a platform—a following, credibility in their field or genre. When their book doesn’t perform the way they hope, they figure it’s because their editor screwed up, their cover designer led them astray or their webmaster didn’t build a good enough site.

Authors, pay attention to the experts—those professionals you trust. Listen to everything they say, not just those things you want to hear. Avoid reading falsehoods into what they tell you. Stop resisting those things that make you feel uncomfortable. Look at the big picture so that you can understand what you’re being told and why. Take the initiative on behalf of your book project. In fact, from day one—when you decide you want to write a book for publication—you should consider yourself the CEO of that book. This means that you must make educated decisions—that you need to take full responsibility for your project.

Now, do you want to pursue a project that is doomed to failure? If not, you’d better begin your education. Start by studying the publishing industry, read good books on the subject, attend writers’ conferences and writers’ group meetings where there are speakers from the publishing community. Once you truly understand the highly competitive business you are about to enter, you’ll be able to make better decisions on behalf of your book. And you’re more apt to be among the twenty-two percent of authors who sell more than just 100 books total.

Start by reading Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Available at Amazon.com http://www.amzn.to/Tze53Z and most other online and downtown bookstores.

Plan to attend the huge Tucson Festival of Books and sit in on some of the panel discussions with industry professionals—agents, publishers, successful authors and others. I will be on four panels over the weekend (March 9 and 10) on publishing, finding a publisher, building your platform and marketing.

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Make Sure Your Book is a Good Idea

Saturday, February 23rd, 2013

Is your book a good idea? Are you sure? Do you have a potential customer base for the book you want to write? How do you know there are people out there eager to read your book?

When I ask new authors if they read books similar to the one they’re writing, most say, “Well, no.” But they are sure there are people out there who will seek out and read their book featuring their thoughts on cloning, their predictions about the economy of America, their story of illness and recovery, their collection of poetry or their modern rendition of a folktale.

They haven’t done any research. They haven’t tested their book idea. They just know that if they write it, readers will come because that’s what they want to believe. They want to write it and they want justification for taking the time to write it.

Nearly 78 percent of these authors eventually prove themselves wrong. That’s how many authors sell fewer than 100 books total.

Some of these authors may have a great idea, may be wonderful writers, could have a book with success potential, but they don’t know how to market it. In fact, most don’t even know they will be expected to promote their own books. Of those who are aware of this truth, many don’t truly understand the scope of this responsibility.

If you are new to writing for publication and if you hope for some measure of success with your project, I urge you to take a break and do some studying. Here’s an inexpensive ebook to start the process of learning what it takes to successfully publish in today’s highly competitive publishing climate.

50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/50ReasonsWhyToWriteBook.html

If you have already published an ebook, which is how many authors start out these days, and you are not selling many, here’s an ebook that will help immensely.

50 Ways to Promote Your Ebook
http://www.matilijapresss.com/50WaysToPromoteEBook.html

Both of these books are only $3.95 each.

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Tips for Driving Visitors to Your Website

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

How do you entice people to your website? Do you have something there that your audience wants? Why do people stop by your site? You know, they aren’t coming there just because they want to support you and your book project—well, not very many people will do that.

If you want to lure potential customers to your website in hopes of them buying your book, you need a reason for them to come—I mean a reason beyond the fact that they want to buy your book. They’ll probably go to Amazon to buy it if they want it, anyway. It’s cheaper and they already have an account there, so it’s easy to make the purchase.

If you have books or services to sell and you put up a website in order to showcase these things, you want visitors. And if you want visitors, you had better have a reason for them to come by.

Here’s what I suggest you add to your website:
• Create a resource list related to the topic or genre of your book.
• Provide a list of other books on the topic or in the genre.
• Post informative articles or interesting stories on the topic or in the genre of your book.
• Run a contest or game where visitors can participate.
• Offer something for free—a downloadable ebook, for example.

Of course, there’s more to this great idea. Once you have something worth showing at your website, you must promote it through every avenue available to you. Just as with a book, no one is going to visit your website if they don’t know it exists or that you have something there of value to them.
I’m working on a new ebook for my website as we speak. So far, I have offered “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book” and “50 Ways to Promote Your Ebook.” I currently offer “50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success.” Download your free ebook here: http://www.patriciafry.com

The two ebooks I retired are now for sale at my website for $3.95 each. And this is an exclusive offer—they are not available at Amazon or anywhere else. Order them here: http://www.matilijapress.com

Okay, so what sort of free ebook could you offer your readers? You notice that I write freebies for authors. That’s because my books are designed for authors. Let’s say that yours is a self-help book featuring a particular disorder. You might prepare a pamphlet offering tips for helping a loved one understand your disorder, ideas for how to take one day at a time when suffering from this disorder, a list of case histories from people who have learned to live with the disorder, little known facts about the disorder, etc.

If it is a memoir focusing on an ancestor who left a journal, consider writing an ebooklet with facts about the country this person hailed from, pointing up the history of a particular period involving your ancestor or noting other books one could read to learn more about an event or time period in this country.

For a novel, a collection of short stories or a novella might be perfect freebies you could offer in order to entice readers to purchase your book in the same genre.

There are hundreds of ideas for spin-off books, booklets, pamphlets and brochures you could produce in order to promote your book. If you have a book and are clueless as to ideas for freebie ebooklets, let me know. Maybe I can help. Maybe some of my followers can help. Leave your comment here. It would be refreshing to receive a real comment rather than so many from spam.

Remember, to order “50 Ways to Sell Your Ebook,” or “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book,” http://www.matilijapress.com They are $3.95 each.

To download my current freebie, “50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success,” go here: http://www.patriciafry.com

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The Process of Writing a Book

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

This morning I received a question about how to turn a dissertation into a book. This student had read my book, “Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author.” Here’s my response:

“Thank you for your interest in my work. You asked about the process of turning a dissertation into a book. Sounds like an interesting topic, by the way.

In response, let me suggest that you have read books. You know what a book contains and that most books have some sort of purpose. They are either designed to teach/educate, inform, offer new ideas for self-help, show a new way of doing something or to entertain. In order to turn your dissertation into a book, it’s just a matter of determining what you want the purpose of your book to be—what you want to offer your readers. Along with that, it is important to do some research and find out what else is out there like your book and to determine if there is, indeed, a readership for a book on the topic. If you decide there is, then you go to work either publishing your dissertation as is—or if it is not appropriate to your audience in that form, use parts of it in a new form that makes sense for your audience. A nonfiction book, for example, must have a beginning, middle and end and be appropriately organized and readable.”

You can create an interesting and entertaining book from a journal or diary. An incident in your life can be transformed into a book. One’s entire life, in some cases, can make a good book. You might be able to create a book based on some of your skills or talents (a how-to book on masonry, flower-arranging or restoring a 1940s vintage car, for example). Your knowledge and experience might be tapped to a degree that you could organize a viable book. And certainly imagination has been the basis for countless novels.

How do you use another form of writing to create a book? It’s the same process most of us go through in order to write our books whether we’re writing from the heart or the head. And the fact that this student has a copy of “Publish Your Book,” should help him immensely through the process.

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Designer Publishing Contracts

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

Have you seen some of the creative contracts publishers are presenting these days? Many of you already know about the variations available when you sign with a pay-to-publish company. But what about traditional publishers? What sort of contracts are they offering?

Numbers of new authors who have produced their own books rather successfully are now publishing books for others. While many of them consider themselves traditional publishers, some are not following the traditional when it comes to their contracts.

I received one yesterday that basically paid no royalties. I could have one avenue of revenue for myself if I set it up. All money from this one source would be mine. And I could buy print books to sell at book festivals and such. But the contact did not tell you even what percentage you would be paying for your books. And if I showcased the book at my website, it would have to be with a link to their website for any potential sales.

Some traditional publishing contacts require that the author put up some of the money to produce the book. Some give higher royalties for ebooks.

Some publishers build into their contracts the right to reject your next project. If you write another book, they want first refusal (or acceptance) rights.

Have you received a nontraditional contract, lately? I’d like to have you share some of the unusual clauses with my followers. Leave your comment here.

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Things Authors Do To Sabotage Their Success

Tuesday, February 19th, 2013

1: The author either doesn’t attend lectures and workshops presented by professionals in the publishing/book promotion field or he attends some, but discounts the speakers’ suggestions.

2: The author hires an editor or a publishing consultant and doesn’t heed their advice.

3: The author neglects to hire an editor.

4: The author writes the book she wants to write without considering her audience.

5: The author has his book packaged in a bland cover, thinking that the cover doesn’t matter—it’s what’s inside.

6: The author does not research beyond finding an agent and expects his job to be over at that point.

7: The author hears about the concept of book promotion and marketing, but doesn’t think it applies to him or her.

8: The author learns that it is up to him or her to promote their book, but chooses not to go there.

9: The author signs with the first pay-to-publish company that he stumbles across.

10: The author doesn’t understand the contract, but signs it anyway.

11: The author expects his pay-to-publish or traditional publisher to handle all promotion.

12: The author doesn’t have a clue about the business of publishing.

If you see yourself in these scenarios, you are either already published and highly disappointed in the experience or you will soon be. What’s the remedy?

Study the publishing industry so you know what to expect and how to more successfully navigate this highly competitive business. Start by reading “Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author.” It’s at Amazon.com and most other online and downtown bookstores.

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