A Simple Marketing Plan Outline for Indie Authors

August 24, 2012 by 4 Comments
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Recently on the phone with a buyer for a large bookstore retailer, she very casually mentioned a major pet peeve she has with ALL authors. She asserted that most authors would do much better in sales if they only had one thing. A marketing plan. Though we think authors need other things too: distribution, a good book to begin with, an unlimited supply of coffee and Advil…we get it. Authors need a marketing plan. Why? Retailers want to see that you’re at least thinking about promotion ideas and have plans in the pipeline. Marketing plan align your book to a strategy and help keep you focused. Every marketing plan is different, but here are the nuts and bolts of what… [read more]

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Planning Tagged With: , , ,

5 Mistakes Authors Make That Ruin Book Marketing

May 7, 2012 by 7 Comments
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You’ve gone through the painful and enlightening process of editing, proofreading, and other general wordsmithing (new word!). You’ve had your designer create the perfect cover for the perfect book. You’ve had your book printed and digitalized in Mobi and Epub files, and it’s finally available everywhere in all formats. In a nutshell, you’re finally there–you’re an authentic, self-made, 14-karat author ready to get out and start selling! Congratulations! I’ve enjoyed seeing hundreds of authors reach this stage, and believe me, it’s a great reward to see an author finally get “there”–if “there” means seeing the book’s live Amazon sales page. The greater reward? Seeing the author achieve a  real sales record, and a solid one at that. In order to… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Book Launch, Book Marketing, Motivational, Pitching, Planning, Self-publishing Tagged With: , , ,

The 5 Principles to Book Reviews and Endorsements

April 27, 2012 by 2 Comments
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In the book world, reviews and endorsements are extremely important… Both official reviews and unofficial consumer reviews are vital to a book’s launch into the market. Readers are becoming more and more dependent on reviews of all kinds when choosing which books to buy, and bookstore buyers tend to look at a book without reviews as less professional—but, of course, it depends on how the reviews are handled. Below is a list of the five principles for review/endorsement submissions! 1. Don’t solely target traditional book reviewers and book bloggers, such as Kirkus Book Reviews, Publishers Weekly, or Bookslut.com.  These sources receive tons of submissions every week, and while a review from one of these places will speak highly for your book, it… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Pitching, Planning, Pub. Industry, Query Letter, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,