Unlike other professions, authors operate under a whole different set of rules. We often can’t just sit down and pound out a story, and those who do have created their own formula for doing so. We see this huge story with all sorts of directions we want to take it, we see the cover, we see the characters, we see the market potential. Then we see Katie Couric or Oprah smiling and holding up our book for the whole world to see. Then we glance back down at our monitor and see a tormenting blinking cursor and blank screen. And we are again reminded of what a failure we are. We have all these stories and nothing on paper. We are idea generators. We have zillions of them running through our minds, but none of them on paper. Unless you make your money in a think tank, operating this way probably isn’t getting you any closer to your goals.

When a project looms before us, it’s like this big elephant — huge, overwhelming and ready to stomp us flat any minute. There’s an old saying: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” The same is true for writing. You finish a book, one step at a time. But to create these steps, you first have to break down your book into manageable, bite-size pieces. This can be accomplished by creating a TOC (table of contents) that can guide you through the book. My reasoning behind this is as follows: You’d never think of driving from California to New York without a map, right? Well, how can you expect to finish your book without one? Your TOC is your roadmap, guiding you through your book. If your chapters don’t have individual headings, then write a 2-3 sentence description of what the chapter encompasses. Don’t get too elaborate on this. Remember, it’s not going in your book; it’s just a brief descriptor. Once the TOC is outlined, you’ll have a vision of your book from start to finish.

A few things that creating this TOC will do for you: It will show you any gaps in your story that might need to be fleshed out, and it will give you a sense of completion, of seeing the book or project actually done, and this is a serious psychological turn-on for most authors, because we often live in a world of half-completed projects. Sometimes this step alone can propel an author enough to get their book done, or at the very least give it a darned good kick-start.

Once you’ve developed your TOC, you’ll want to go through it and create a “to do” list. Regardless of what genre your book is, you will always have a to-do list. Whether it’s getting endorsements, doing research, or getting approvals for quotes or excerpts for your book, this to-do list will become yet another item that will help propel your book toward completion.

Once the to-do list is done, set it aside. Now you should have your completed TOC with a vision of the entire book and a growing list of items that will need to be handled for the book to get done. Now the real fun begins.

Some books on writing will tell you to set aside a day or two a week, or an evening here and there to get your book completed. I disagree with this theory, and here’s why: You need to stay dialed into your topic. When I was working on an upcoming book, I would often put the project aside for days or weeks at a time, promising myself to schedule time “as soon as I could.” Well, that rarely happened. What I found is that if I set aside some time every day to do something on the book, I got it completed a lot quicker.

The more you keep your hands in your project, the more it will stay at the front of your mind and on your radar screen, and the more energy you will invest to finish it. I won’t tell you to set aside hours of your time each day — in fact, you don’t even have to set aside an hour. Take 15 minutes, or even five — whatever your schedule permits. If this seems like a ridiculously short amount of time, consider this: You now have your to-do list and your outlined TOC! . If you are short on time one day, pick a quickie item from your to-do list and get it done. If you have more time, then pound out a chapter or two. The idea behind creating the to-do lists and a TOC is to not only give your project a structure, but to also eliminate any and all excuses for getting it done. Don’t feel like writing today? No problem. There’s probably a mountain of research just waiting to be traversed. Get the picture?

But let’s say you can’t even get through the TOC. “My book has too many layers,” you lament. “Too many back stories, tons of stuff going on. I can’t possibly be expected to filter it down into a neat little TOC.” Yes, you can, and you must. If your book has no focus, your book will have no focus. It’s as simple as that. But it doesn’t stop there — if your book is all over the place and you do actually manage to get it done, you’ll never be able to keep a reader interested because you will be the only one who will get it, and what’s the point of that? What you’ll need to do in this case is find the “core” of your book or the focus of your story. Ask yourself this: What’s the one thing this book cannot do without? What’s the one thing this story circles around? That’s your core. If you’re still coming up with three or four things that your story circles around, you aren’t focused enough and neither is your book. Find that one thing and build your story or book around it.

If you follow these steps, your book will get finished quicker than you could have ever imagined. And the once-dreaded writer’s block will go from a stumbling block to a building block.

Related posts

• The Business of Publishing (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Publicity From Thirty Thousand Feet (0)
• Getting Syndicated (0)
• Writing Past Fear: 10 Ways To Stop Worrying And Start Writing (0)
• I Quit And Other Sensible Ideas – Or, Five Reasons To Stay A Writer (0)
• Eight Surefire Ways To Stay Motivated (0)
• Surviving The Day Job: Six Easy Lessons (0)
• On The Planet Corporate: Survival Through Fiction (0)
• Seven Levels Of Rejection: And How To Make Them Work For You (0)
• Querying: One Author (0)
• A Secret To Getting Published (0)
• Writing and Walking – Beating Writer (0)
• Writing a great story starts with writing a killer intro (0)
• When Getting Stuck Goes Amuck (0)

Marketing, promoting and networking must be done every single day, for the life of the book, in balance with your other activities and obligations.

Many new authors feel their only way to success is through book signings and bookstores stocking their book. They are wrong. While in larger centers with good promotion a book signing event or book reading event may result in as much as a couple hundred one-time sales… most smaller venues can only expect less than 10 sales. Is this worth the 2 hours or more that you spend at the event? Not counting all the preperation, marketing the event, promotion materials, time taken from work and any displays that you have designed and possibly paid for ahead of time. These events do not pay authors to host an event so any sales they do have may not even cover the traveling costs, hotel cost, meals, parking or supplies – let alone the time they put into it. Nor do they usually result in long-term sales – sales are often only during the few days around the event.

Bookstores can only realistically stock less than 1% of the 3 million books available on the market. Their discount with the publisher/distributor is large. Authors are paid royalties only on what their publisher has recieved. So is all the time and effort going into attaining spots on bookstore shelves worth it?

While the markets above are valuable and important to any author – what authors need to do is think outside the box. Figure out where your efforts will bring the greatest results. Don’t expect immediate and overwhelming acceptance by the media or your audience. Marketing, networking and promoting are long-term efforts that will reap greater rewards as efforts continue.

Many authors live in tiny towns and hold down jobs or have physical limitations that prevent out-of-town promotions; much like ourselves. This can be overcome. Again, think outside the box, use the Internet and your contacts – and be persistant. Newspapers, libraries, and bookstores are only the most obvious markets and also are the most difficult to gain the attention of without a strong image because everyone is vying for their attention. Work on your image and get strong promotion materials that help you stand out among the hundred thousand or more new books released annually.

So develop a long-term marketing plan and stick with it for the full term of your contract with the publisher. The market plan will grow and change as time goes on. And keep good records so you can determine how you will go about marketing the next book.

I just wanted to mention here that some authors get overwhelmed by the immense amount of effort it takes to market a book. If we take one day, one step at a time we will find it is not so overwhelming. I find it works best to figure out what you will concentrate on this week and then set a goal for today. I do this nearly every day. It helps me keep a steady pace going, without taking on too much or too little.

Remember too, that efforts you are making today may not reap immediate results. You may have to hit a market several times before they pick up your proposal. For instance, some contacts from nearly a year ago are now resulting in promotions in their publications. So be patient and professional in all that you do. Again, keep records so that you can follow up.

Newsletters can be small but effective markets for your work. On average, they can range in size from 1000-17,000 readers or more. E-zines typically reach an audience larger than 5000. Get a few of them in one month and you are reaching a wide audience! You don’t need to be rich or famous or have a publicist if you are determined and able to committ effort every single day. (Do take some time for yourself, though!)

Related posts

• Your Need Publicity For Your Book (0)
• When Getting Stuck Goes Amuck (0)
• Tips To Successfully Promote Your Book On Talk Radio (0)
• The Write And Wrong Way To Promote Your Book (0)
• The Secrets To Marketing Fiction (0)
• The Business of Publishing (0)
• Ten Ways To Use Video To Sell More Books (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Selling Your Books In Bulk (0)
• Self-Publishing The Hard Way: The Art Of Giving Birth (0)
• Putting Off Writing That Novel Until The Kids Are Grown? (0)
• Publicity From Thirty Thousand Feet (0)
• Mudarse a Otro Pais (0)
• Marketing In A Web 2.0 World (0)
• Life Advice: A Lost Friend Speaks (0)

While publishing is all about creative expression, it’s also about business and it’s those business savvy authors who will succeed in the end. Now you don’t have to be an MBA to be a keen business person, you simply have to understand that the choices you make relative to your books future should be based on strategies that will enhance sales not just drain your pocketbook. So, how do you do this? First, take a long, hard look at your reader.

At Author Marketing Experts, we always create a reader profile for each book we promote. This reader profile will tell us where to find buyers for the books we represent. Taking this first step helps us sort through our choices when it comes to book promotion and make decisions on behalf of our authors that are sound and will help leverage sales.

There are times when it’s a waste of resources to do a nationwide radio or TV promotion. In fact, some of our programs don’t include any outreach to broadcast media. Why? Because as alluring as it might seem to appear on the Today Show, what’s the point if your audience doesn’t watch morning TV? And, if your audience isn’t watching this show, the chances are slim they’ll even consider you anyway. What? More rejection? Who needs it!

As you embark on or continue your campaign, ask yourself a few tough questions. First, what’s your ultimate goal for this book? If it’s just to give away at family reunions, that’s great! But then you’ll probably want to nix any marketing. If your book is an arm of your business and you have speaking engagements lined up through the end of the year. You probably don’t need to spend a lot on marketing since most of your sales will come from your speaking engagements (i.e. back of the room sales). On the other hand, if you wrote this book to grow your business or to leverage your credibility then you will probably want to dial yourself into your industry through enhanced media exposure.

For fiction authors this area becomes a little tricky. First, you need to determine your long term goals. By long term we mean: do you want to stay in this business or was this book just “something you wanted to do.” If it’s a hobby, then treat it as such but if this is going to be your career, then you need to keep your message out there on a continual basis, through venues such as author events, talks, signings, print and broadcast media.

Make sure the choices you make, make sense for your book and aren’t just made because you’ve always dreamt of being on Oprah. I’ve known authors lured into inappropriate marketing plans by big, flashy names and promises of stardom, wasting thousands of valuable marketing dollars and heading in a direction that wasn’t right for them. If you’re serious about your work, ready to let go of your muse and face the task at hand with some business savvy, then you’re really ready to get published. Below are some guidelines that will help further your success!

1) Reader profile: create one of these at the beginning of your marketing campaign and keep refining it as you move through the process. Refine and redefine who and where your audience is and how to get to them.

2) Time commitment: determine what you can and can’t reasonably do. If you have a full time job it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to commit yourself to forty hours of marketing a week unless your boss is on vacation.

3) Investment: how much are you willing to invest in your future? Are you willing to invest money without seeing much in return knowing that you are building a foundation or do you want to see immediate monetary results? Most authors don’t see a return on their investment for a year or more. Are you committed enough to yourself or your project to keep this investment going?

4) Reality check: what’s realistic for the industry you’re in? Are you latching onto a fad or something with more longevity? Are you getting into a brand new market that will require lots of reader education? Or are you trying to go mainstream with a non-mainstream topic? While this is an admirable goal, it can be like swimming upstream.

5) Budget: while we encourage authors to invest in their future, we’ve also seen a number of people go into heavy debt, quit their jobs and even sell their homes just to promote their book. While that kind of dedication is certainly admirable, remember that although you have the potential to make a great deal of money it’s not going to be overnight. The lure here is of course that “If I stick with it, this next sale will make me famous.” Well, maybe or maybe not. If you’ve been plugging away for a while without any significant success get a professional to give you some honest, constructive feedback about your plan, your market, and your book. It might be that a poorly designed cover is the reason you’re not making sales, or a topic that’s fallen off of the public’s radar screen. In the meantime as you’re waiting to hit the big time you’ll still need a place to sleep and Uncle Vinnie’s couch will get old real quick.

6) Burnout: we hear this term often, even to the point of being overused. What we’re really talking about here is author burnout. We’ve found that the average author only markets their book for ninety days. That means ninety days of day and night marketing, radio interviews at 3am and a book signing every weekend. On day ninety-one they are so tired, so discouraged and so broke they quit. You can avoid this by giving yourself realistic goals and a realistic timeframe in which to complete them. There’s nothing in the world like seeing your book in print. If approached realistically, objectively and with sound business sense, it can be one of the most exciting times in your life.

Related posts

• Writing Past Fear: 10 Ways To Stop Worrying And Start Writing (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Publicity From Thirty Thousand Feet (0)
• I Quit And Other Sensible Ideas – Or, Five Reasons To Stay A Writer (0)
• Getting Syndicated (0)
• Get Your Book Done … Now! (0)
• Eight Surefire Ways To Stay Motivated (0)
• Surviving The Day Job: Six Easy Lessons (0)
• On The Planet Corporate: Survival Through Fiction (0)
• Seven Levels Of Rejection: And How To Make Them Work For You (0)
• Querying: One Author (0)
• A Secret To Getting Published (0)
• Self-Publishing The Hard Way: The Art Of Giving Birth (0)
• Getting Down To It – Dealing With Writer’s Block (0)
• Getting Down To It – Dealing With Paragrapher’s Barricade (0)

Writing a book is the easy part, and while publishers look at writing style and voice, there’s a whole lot more that goes into a successful book than just how well it’s written. When it comes to success, a publisher looks at this much differently than an author does. Truth be told, a publisher gauges a book’s potential success largely by the author.

Now don’t misunderstand me, there’s market consideration as well, but the author’s “salability” is looked at very closely. What we refer to as a “platform” is something all authors need to have, regardless of their target market. A platform is not who you know, but who knows you. It’s your area of influence. A platform can be any of the following:

• Your business

• Your fan base

• Speaking gigs you have coming up

• Your email list of potential buyers (i.e. fans)

• Your website (if your site is drawing traffic and capturing email addresses)

• How well you’re known in your market

If you’re new to the book world (meaning this is your first book) you may not have a single item on the above list in your vault of marketing tools. That’s okay. Now’s the time to build them.

The next piece of this is to write for a market. Over the years I’ve seen countless authors write a book on something for which there is no market. They believe their book will create the market. This won’t happen. Ever. First, if you’re self-publishing a book you probably don’t have the funds available to you to “create” a market even if you wanted to. You may respond to this by saying, “Yeah, but new markets are created every day.” And yes, this is true; what’s also true is that while it may seem that these are “new” markets, they were in fact already existing but, perhaps, untapped. Finding these markets can cost you a fortune in consumer research, advertising, product/book placement, etc.

When a company like Coca-Cola decides to put out a brand new product, you can bet that millions of dollars has gone into this prior to the launch. When authors come to me and say, “I have a great idea and it’s never been done before,” I suspect there’s a reason why, a publisher will too. Now, let’s say that you’ve done the research, you’ve spent years working in this arena and you know there are readers out there. Millions of them. If this is the case then I’d suggest you show up armed with your (current) research and data.

The ability to self-publish your book has (thankfully) brought a number of books to the attention of a traditional publisher that might have otherwise gone overlooked. Why? Because publishers like what other people like. If you have a book that you’ve self-published and it’s done well, a publisher might consider this for commercial access as well. By “commercial” I mean consumer, trade paperback, mass market. The key is to keep a close eye on the track record of the book and document your success. This form of documentation will later become the resume you use to entice a publisher into considering your book.

I was talking to an author the other day who had a great idea. He had a hard time getting a traditional publisher interested in his book, so he self-published with the intent of getting a major house to publish him. With that he mind he solicited referral letters from bookstores. Why bookstores? Because if you can get a bookstore excited about your book and tell publishers it “flew off the shelves,” you’ll be a step closer to piquing a publisher’s interest. Why? Well many (if not all) publishers will solicit advice from booksellers on the sales potential of a book they’re considering. They do this because they know that the bookseller is front and center with the consumer every day. They see what sells and what doesn’t. Having a bookstore (preferably several) in your corner could be a tremendous thing for your future and the future of your book.

And finally, let’s be realistic. With 500 books published each day in the U.S., the competition is fierce for gaining the buyer’s attention. Your book is your resume and because of this, it needs to be letter perfect. You should never wait for a traditional publisher to come along and “polish” your book, it should be gleaming with perfection. Yes, there are always things you’ll want to change after it’s published, but having a book that’s edited with a cover that sparkles will not only get you noticed by a publisher, but by your reader as well. And in the end, it’s the reader we must reach. Once you do, the world will beat a path to your door.

Related posts

• The Write And Wrong Way To Promote Your Book (0)
• Ten Ways To Use Video To Sell More Books (0)
• How Long Is Too Long To Market A Book? (0)
• Where Do You Find The Time? (0)
• The Appeal Of Older Men (0)
• Freefall – A Writing Method (0)
• What’s Wrong With The Big New York Publishers? (0)
• The Secrets To Marketing Fiction (0)
• The Business of Publishing (0)
• Stop Wasting Time And Money (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Selling Your Books In Bulk (0)
• Self-Publishing The Hard Way: The Art Of Giving Birth (0)
• Publicity From Thirty Thousand Feet (0)
• It’s Time For Independent Authors To Join Forces (0)

1. Be energetic. Make sure that you bring ENERGY to the table. Radio hosts love it when you show enthusiasm on the air. If you’re excited about your message, the listeners will be excited, too—and more inclined to want to learn more about your book.

2. Avoid distractions. Make sure that there are no dogs barking or kids screaming and clutching onto your leg. Turn off your computer and the television and make sure that you switch off your cell phone. Shut yourself into a room where you can have total privacy with no distractions so you can stay focused!

3. Be honest. Always be open and honest with the host. Listeners relate better to people who are an “open book.” Don’t be afraid to be who you really are and say what you really think. Remember that Howard Stern built an empire by being honest with his listeners!

4. Define your message. Before going on the air, know the key points you want to communicate about your book. Make sure you stay “on message” no matter how far off the host’s questions take you. Always bring the answer back to your own key message.

5. Be mindful of your word inflections. Practice saying your main points out loud before your interview. Remember that it is not only what you say, but how you say it. Inflections help keep the listener’s interest.

6. Speak slowly and clearly and make sure that you E-NUN-CI-ATE. You don’t want your words to mush together. If you speak too quickly, the listeners won’t be able to understand you. Make sure to enunciate so that people will stay interested.

7. Have notes handy, but try not to read from them. Know your material cold. Reading your notes or word-for-word answers sounds stiff and rehearsed and you’ll lose your audience. You want to sound as natural as possible so that your message will be more likely to trigger a buying response.

8. If you stumble, stutter, or slip-up during an interview, forget about it and move on. Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Don’t get flustered. Stay on message and you’ll be fine.

9. Don’t get technical or use words that most listeners wouldn’t know. Remember that you are trying to get a large audience to relate to you. Use layman’s terms, if at all possible, and save the four-syllable words for your next game of Scrabble.

10. Smile when you are on the air. If you are physically smiling while you are talking, the listeners will feel it. If you are frowning, they will feel that also. Although the listeners won’t be able to actually see you on the radio, they will be able to “feel” your interest and enthusiasm.

Remember—your intention for every interview is to enlighten the listening audience about your book and interest them in purchasing it.

If you would like to hear more about talk radio and how it can help you successfully promote your book, call me or my husband Steve at 727-443-7115, ext. 208. Nothing beats a real-life conversation!

Call today &ndash we’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Warmest Regards,

Marsha Friedman, President

Related posts

• 10 New Tips For Successfully Promoting Your Book On Talk Radio (0)
• Your Need Publicity For Your Book (0)
• The Secrets To Marketing Fiction (0)
• Realities Of Publishing Your Own Book (0)
• How To Promote Your Book (0)
• Don’t Be An Expert, Be A Filter (secrets To Selling More Books) (0)
• Writing For Children: Turn Your Ideas Into A Book (0)
• Writing For Cash – Real Opportunities (0)
• Writing Children’s Books: Take Chances To Get Published (0)
• Writing A Short Article Can Be As Easy As 1-2-3 (0)
• Write, Publish and Market a Book with No Out-of-Pocket Money (0)
• Working With Major Publishing Houses (0)
• Why You Need a 3-Tiered Strategy For Article Submission (0)
• Why Write A Non-Fiction Book (0)
• Why Publish Your Writing In A Printed Book? (0)

As many bestselling authors will tell you, talk radio is one of the best and most cost-efficient vehicles to get your message heard by consumers. But, with different publicity firms out there competing for your business, how do you choose the right one? What factors should you look for and which are the most important?

► Experience. How important is experience? Very. You need to employ a company who has had years of experience promoting books on talk radio. A skilled firm knows how to develop an angle from your book that will get you the broadest national exposure. They will know how to write an effective press release that stands out from all the rest. And most importantly, they know how to get a positive reaction from producers that results in a booking. This is the kind of experience that will ensure you get quality media placements.

► Quality Markets. In what markets will you be heard? If you’re paying a firm to obtain media interviews, you don’t want to be booked in markets smaller than top 100. There’s no question that stations in smaller markets have value, but you don’t need to pay top dollar for someone to arrange it for you.

► Quality Stations. What caliber of stations will your interviews take place on? The criteria we use for booking interviews is nothing less than 5,000 watts or above on the AM dial. In every market you’ll find high-powered and low-powered stations. Obviously, the more power a station has, the morepeople will be listening in. So, if you’re paying for media interviews, your best return on investment will be appearing as a guest on larger stations.

► Guarantee. What sort of guarantee is in place? In the book promotion business, you’ll find some PR firms whose fees are based on performance and others who charge a monthly retainer with no guarantee. Given a choice, your best bet is to work with a performance-based firm as your media placements will be guaranteed.

Hopefully these four factors will help in your search for the right publicity firm.

Having been in the book publicity business for almost two decades, we know a thing or two about generating media attention for books. If you want to hear more about EMSI’s affordable talk radio campaigns, call me or my husband Steve at 727-443-7115, ext. 208. Nothing beats a real-life conversation!

Call today &ndash we’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Warmest Regards,

Marsha Friedman, President

P.S. We also offer a host of other essential publicity and advertising services, including TV and radio commercials and infomercials. Once we understand more about your book, we can discuss the different options available to create the national buzz that’s so crucial to a successful book campaign.

Related posts

• Tips To Successfully Promote Your Book On Talk Radio (0)
• 10 New Tips For Successfully Promoting Your Book On Talk Radio (0)
• Realities Of Publishing Your Own Book (0)
• How To Promote Your Book (0)
• Writing For Children: Turn Your Ideas Into A Book (0)
• Writing For Cash – Real Opportunities (0)
• Writing Children’s Books: Take Chances To Get Published (0)
• Writing A Short Article Can Be As Easy As 1-2-3 (0)
• Write, Publish and Market a Book with No Out-of-Pocket Money (0)
• Working With Major Publishing Houses (0)
• Why You Need a 3-Tiered Strategy For Article Submission (0)
• Why Write A Non-Fiction Book (0)
• Why Publish Your Writing In A Printed Book? (0)
• Who Are You Calling A Moron? (0)
• What’s Your Passion? (0)

With all the talk today about using video to promote your book, it’s easy to get caught up in a YouTube-driven world. It’s a great idea certainly but there’s one catch: you’ve got to make your viewer feel something. An example of this is a recent video posted to Yahoo videos (it also landed on YouTube) about a contestant (Paul Potts) on Britain’s Got Talent. While not an author (yet) the video shows us clearly what we mean by emotion. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.

.youtube.com/watch?v=exyJ2CSfrHo

The video became so popular (almost overnight) that within a few days it made it to the U.S. and into the hands of millions of viewers. Why? Well, let’s think about this. If you’ve ever watched an episode of American Idol or a version of the program you know that the most favored contestants are the underdogs, the ones who just show up and blow the judges away. That’s the biggest emotional hot button on any of these types of shows and that’s why the Paul Potts video made such an impact online. Of course he had talent, but talent in the absence of a true underdog factor wouldn’t have made this video as successful as it was.

In fact, not only that but every major media outlet is clamoring for an interview with Paul. He’s become a sensation. The video gave him exposure to people globally and it tapped into an emotion – but more than that, it tapped into the right emotion. That is key. If the Paul Potts video had been scary, or disturbing, or flat out boring, who would have cared? So if you’re considering doing a book video for your own tome, don’t sell yourself short by just “telling the story,” do it in such a way that grabs your reader, engages them and hits them right in their emotional hot buttons. Know the triggers your audience responds to and incorporate that into your video.

Check out this video that MonkeyCMedia did for a book we worked on: .redhotinternetpublicity.com/trailers/engaged.html

Here are some ways to make the most of your video:

1) Have you been YouTube’d? If you haven’t this is the #1 place to load your book video.

2) Put your video on your own website, don’t let a single visitor land on your site without getting the “touch and feel” of your book.

3) Send a sample of your book video to every media contact you pitch. Never let a press kit leave your office without a disc.

4) Got a social networking page? If you do (and you should) add the clip or a link to it on the page.

5) When you pitch the media, don’t forget to insert a link to the trailer in your email. Don’t send it as an attachment; chances are an overaggressive spam filter will have it for lunch.

6) Blog about it every chance you get. No, I’m not talking about repeating a blog over and over but blog on what success you’ve had thanks to your video. And oh, yes, add a link to the book video too.

7) Trying to get a signing but have been unsuccessful? Let your book speak for itself, literally. Drop off a copy of your book trailer to an as-yet-unconvinced bookstore person and I can almost bet you’ll get a signing in the store.

Ready for your close-up? There’s no quicker way to a potential producer’s heart than through his eyes and ears. Seeing a book come to life can sometimes be a great way to sell someone on the concept of turning your book into a movie.

9) If you’re doing a signing bring the book video to show while you’re signing books. I’ve known authors who’ve done this and they sold almost twice as many books. The video really pulls in readers!

10) Just like you can tell a book by its cover, you can often tell a book video by its packaging. Get your CD cover professionally printed, don’t skim on the first impression! In fact, why not have your video burned to a business card size cd that you can pop into the card slot of a presentation folder?

Related posts

• The Write And Wrong Way To Promote Your Book (0)
• How To Get A New York Publisher (0)
• How Long Is Too Long To Market A Book? (0)
• Where Do You Find The Time? (0)
• The Appeal Of Older Men (0)
• Freefall – A Writing Method (0)
• Why I Killed My Muse … And You Should Too (0)
• What’s Wrong With The Big New York Publishers? (0)
• The Secrets To Marketing Fiction (0)
• The Business of Publishing (0)
• Stop Wasting Time And Money (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Selling Your Books In Bulk (0)
• Self-Publishing The Hard Way: The Art Of Giving Birth (0)
• Publicity From Thirty Thousand Feet (0)

If you’re wondering how to become a filter, give some thought to the filters you may not even be aware of. For example, in the book publishing market I can think of two major ones: Dan Poynter and John Kremer. Both of them are filters. Why? Well, they have zeroed in on their focused market and have become the go-to people for everything publishing and marketing. We have structured Author Marketing Experts the same way: all book marketing, all the time.

While you’ll find filters in different markets, they share a lot of the same characteristics. Filters are out there weeding through information so you don’t have to, and then they are posting their findings on their website, blog, or talking about it in their podcast. Sometimes they’re doing a combination of all of these things to keep their readers informed.

Next, filters are so laser focused in their market that not only can they filter out the “noise” for you so you don’t have to, they can then compartmentalize the noise into sub-filters. These sub-filters become even more significant, and here’s why. Increasingly, we are living in an age of customization. I mean when was the last time you bought an entire CD or read an entire newspaper? More than likely you’re buying your music one song at a time on iTunes, or you’re reading your news selectively or, in many cases, through RSS feeds that allow you to tap into only the content that you want. We’ll put all of this together in a moment, but for now, start thinking about the customized element to what you’re doing.

The tools we have at our disposal (many of them free) make becoming a filter extremely easy. Blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, all of these help us to build our filter and therefore, build our audience. But before you launch headlong into filtering, consider these quick tips:

Becoming a filter requires dedication, but the benefits will pay off in ways you can’t imagine (and many that will fill your bank account). When I talk about dedication, what I mean is *you* must read every publication that’s out there on your topic so your reader doesn’t have to, and more than that, you should read outside of your area of expertise because you never know where the big ideas will come from. Take an afternoon, once a month, and devour your reading material. I read an average of 27 magazines a month. Yes, it can be overwhelming (at times), but the upside is that you are constantly staying dialed into your market. That’s the first step to becoming a filter.

Be crystal clear about what you’re filtering. If you’re sitting in a huge market like, let’s say automotive, you probably don’t want to talk about every single car that’s out there or being developed. Perhaps you want to focus only on hybrid vehicles. Now your direction is clear. Once you have this direction, your website should reflect that. Your website should be the first marketing piece you look at as you’re developing your focus.

Next, ask yourself if your book is a filter. If it’s not, it should be. Being a filter is tougher for fiction authors of course, but you non-fiction folks should have no trouble leveraging this into your books.

Blog, podcast, and write, write, write on trends, reviews, hot new ideas and things that are so-so. I always tell people that I am my own test lab. If you want to try something new in marketing, check with me first. It’s likely that I’ve already tested it on myself. In fact, all of our programs are built from things I tried first. If I don’t like it, or it didn’t work, I won’t sell it. That’s a filter. And I’m not just talking about filtering stuff you can offer to a client, be objective! Be a filter for the competition, too, and by all means, send people to other vendors if they can offer what you can’t. Remember, the customer/reader came to you first.

Make customization your best friend. So, let’s use our car example again. Let’s say you wrote a book on hybrid cars and your site is all about hybrids as is your blog, newsletter and podcast. But now you have built your brand sufficiently, and it’s time to break out into new areas. How about this: ebooks for focused markets. Quick and easy tips, like “Buying a hybrid for seniors” or “Buying a hybrid for families.” The key to remember is that each of these markets has its own specific needs. When it comes to buying a car, the needs of a family are different from those of a senior or single.

What’s your brand? Everyone’s a brand, even Nora Roberts. Becoming a filter will help you brand yourself. Remember that people don’t buy a book, they buy a brand. If you’re clear on your brand, you’ll sell more books. Figuring out your branding doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be focused. I’m not talking about the kind of branding that requires hours of logo development. I’m not even talking about a brand that’s necessarily original. Yes, you want to be unique, but the key isn’t doing something no one else is doing, the key is doing it better.

So how can you become a filter? What’s your market and focus? Perhaps you’re thinking that you can apply some of these principles, but not all of them. That’s OK! The thing to remember is that being an expert is pass

Related posts

• The Secrets To Marketing Fiction (0)
• Selling Your Books In Bulk (0)
• Self-Publishing The Hard Way: The Art Of Giving Birth (0)
• Writing For Children: Turn Your Ideas Into A Book (0)
• Writing Children’s Books: Take Chances To Get Published (0)
• Writing Advice From The Experts Part #3 (0)
• Writing Advice From The Experts Part #2 (0)
• Why Publish Your Writing In A Printed Book? (0)
• Who’s Speaking: Choosing A Narrator’s Voice (0)
• What’s Wrong With The Big New York Publishers? (0)
• Tips To Successfully Promote Your Book On Talk Radio (0)
• Thesaurus: Word Roulette (0)
• The Write And Wrong Way To Promote Your Book (0)
• The Svelte Thai Women And The “Won Sigh” Foreigner (0)
• The Details Are In The Calendar (0)

There are a number of tried and true ways you can enter this market, there are also a few “back door” methods that might work equally as good. The first thing you’ll need to do however is get to know your competition. For this I recommend that you get a copy of The Editor & Publisher Annual Directory of Syndication. Sometimes you can get this in bookstores but I’d recommend just ordering it online at .editorandpublisher.com. Explore this book carefully and you’ll find that syndicated columns are listed by both the syndicated service that offers them as well as their topic. This will give you a good starting point in your research and since most newspapers now have on-line archives, you’ll be able to explore past articles and see how these topics differ from your own.

Once you’ve explored this, define for yourself how your topic/angle is different from the ones you found during your research. Then once you’ve defined this, you can start targeting papers or syndication services with your query letter and sample articles. This is the traditional way of entering this market. For most it can be long and tedious and you might find that without prior “clippings” to offer them, the process takes even longer. In that vein, I’d recommend that you try offering your column locally first or to one paper at a time but not in a “syndication deal” but as a filler; newspapers will be a lot quicker to take filler items than to explore syndication options with you. By offering them consistent filler content (and saving those valuable clippings) you’ll start to grow your level of experience, you’ll build a reputation with the editor or editorial staff and you’ll begin to get a sense of what does and doesn’t work with printed media. An associate of mine did this, not with a local paper but with a paper she’d been offering her articles to, and after about two years of consistent submission she may be in line to fill the shoes of their in-house syndicated columnist who is retiring.

Once you have built some exposure for yourself and gathered clippings of your work, then it’s time to start pitching your topic to syndicated services (some of them are listed below) or regional newspapers. For this you’ll need a great query letter establishing your credentials and explaining why your idea is different from the others they might be considering, you’ll need some sample articles (other than your clippings) and perhaps some letters of reference from some papers you’ve worked for. Submit this packet to newspapers or syndicated services that might be appropriate to your topic and then keep good records and do your follow-up just like you would if you were pitching the media on anything else. The same rules apply really, pitch and follow-up and stay on their radar screen.

So, at the end of the day when you find yourself successfully syndicated will you get paid for all your hard work &ndash absolutely! What you’ll get paid varies depending on how many papers feature you and whether you are working through a syndication service. Syndication services are great but they will typically take 40 to 50 percent of your sales. If you self-syndicate you get all the proceeds. While it’s great to do this, keep in mind that you’ll need to have good tracking systems in place once your column takes off.

As an already published author, syndication can be another great way to promote you and your book. Your book will lend you the credibility you need to get that column and from this ongoing printed exposure some lucrative publishing deals could follow suit. Syndication may not be an easy road but if tackled correctly, can be a great way to boost your promotion, expand your platform and get the kind of exposure you only ever dreamed of!

Major syndicates &ndash check online for their submission guidelines

Copley News Service

.copleynews.com

King Features

.kingfeatures.com

Universal Press Syndicate

.amuniversal.com/ups/index.htm

BONUS TIP: If you’re trying to follow the comings and goings of syndicated writers, Editor and Publisher (.editorandpublisher) is a great resource for that. Check out the “Departments” tab on their web site for the latest news on columns that might be coming available!

Related posts

• The Business of Publishing (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Publicity From Thirty Thousand Feet (0)
• Get Your Book Done … Now! (0)
• Writing Past Fear: 10 Ways To Stop Worrying And Start Writing (0)
• I Quit And Other Sensible Ideas – Or, Five Reasons To Stay A Writer (0)
• Eight Surefire Ways To Stay Motivated (0)
• Surviving The Day Job: Six Easy Lessons (0)
• On The Planet Corporate: Survival Through Fiction (0)
• Seven Levels Of Rejection: And How To Make Them Work For You (0)
• Querying: One Author (0)
• A Secret To Getting Published (0)
• Writing and Walking – Beating Writer (0)
• Writing a great story starts with writing a killer intro (0)
• When Getting Stuck Goes Amuck (0)

To accomplish this bird-eye view you’ll want to get yourself a big white board, or something else big enough to chart your flight plan on. Then, once you’ve gotten that start charting the course you’ve taken so far. Don’t leave a single thing out; it doesn’t matter what it is. What you want to end up with is a serious list of everything you’ve done from the time you held your first proof book in your hands.

One of the things this type of a project will do is give you a new perspective on what you’re doing. It will show you areas that you’ve possibly been spending too much time on or potential holes in your campaign. Sketching out your marketing campaign will also give you a chance to see what’s been leveraging you results and what hasn’t. Keep in mind that some things like bulk sales and national media might take longer than other items so you’ll want to keep putting forth effort toward those long-term goals. But let’s say you’ve been spending tons of time doing radio but nothing really seems to be happening in that area. You then look over to your speaking engagement section and realize you haven’t done a lot with that recently. Perhaps it’s time to pull back on radio and start pushing speaking events.

Once you’ve spent a good long time in this birds-eye view mode, start developing a to-do list of items or add to an existing list to help reinvigorate your campaign. One of the many things you’ll learn from doing this thirty-thousand foot perspective is that we often become myopic in our campaigns, focusing too hard in one area and not hard enough in another. Stepping back from your work will allow you the breathing room you need to regroup and reset your goals. Then you can focus in on particular areas or tasks that might need a boost.

It’s been said that a plane flying from Hawaii to Los Angeles is always off by three percent. If left to fly without any adjustments to the course, however slight, the plane would land up in Seattle instead (a difference of almost 1,200 miles!). But through corrections and readjustments the pilot eventually reaches his destination. As you pilot your own campaign, remember: don’t leave your marketing on autopilot. Realign, readjust, and refocus and eventually you too will reach your destination, wherever that might be.

Happy flying!

Related posts

• The Business of Publishing (0)
• Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells (0)
• Getting Syndicated (0)
• Get Your Book Done … Now! (0)
• Writing Past Fear: 10 Ways To Stop Worrying And Start Writing (0)
• I Quit And Other Sensible Ideas – Or, Five Reasons To Stay A Writer (0)
• Eight Surefire Ways To Stay Motivated (0)
• Surviving The Day Job: Six Easy Lessons (0)
• On The Planet Corporate: Survival Through Fiction (0)
• Seven Levels Of Rejection: And How To Make Them Work For You (0)
• Querying: One Author (0)
• A Secret To Getting Published (0)
• Writing and Walking – Beating Writer (0)
• Writing a great story starts with writing a killer intro (0)
• When Getting Stuck Goes Amuck (0)