How to Double Your Book Sales on Your Website
How to Double Your Book Sales on Your Website
Face it, times are tough! The economy blah, blah, blah. Tell me something new. The key is:
Everyone loves a bargain, especially today. And, bargains drive sales. Here’s a great way you can explode your sales:
Call a bargain what you want: a discount, coupon, sale, bonus package, gift with purchase, etc. The point is, people love it. Several weeks ago, we tried an experiment. We decided to bundle my latest title: Red Hot Internet Publicity, with an older book called Book Promotion Made Easy. By older I don’t mean outdated, I mean that it was an evergreen title, older to the list so the author had moved on from aggressively promoting it. The match was perfect and on the first launch our sales of Red Hot Internet Publicity quadrupled. I was stunned.
For many publishers, a backlist is either gold or stagnant. In either case, there’s likely a title that you can pair up with a newer one you are promoting. In the case of the bundle mentioned above, I didn’t even write Book Promotion Made Easy. So if you’re looking for pairing options and you don’t have a suitable book in-house to pair it with, consider co-promoting the titles with another author. Not only will you get a quality bundle, but if they have a list they can promote it to you can participate in their promotion as well.
The breakdown was easy, here’s how we did it. We bundled together my new book Red Hot Internet Publicity with Book Promotion Made Easy. Total value: $30.95.
Red Hot is $18.95 and Book Promotion Made Easy is $12.00.
Book Marketing Experts offered the bundle that offered both books for $20. That’s a 35% savings or $10.95.
Want to know how we did it? I’ll tell you and here’s how you can create your own special website promotions to double or triples sales from your site:
-Analyze your book and its cost.
- Look to raise the price of the bundle “a bit” to cover the cost of the add-on or bonus item. – Offer great value to your customer.
-Look for bonuses you can add in. Successful examples include a booklet, book, eBook, checklist, article or special report. An MP3 audio program or CD.
The key to success is to offer a bonus or package that is Valuable to your customers. That [value] drives sales.
-If you’re going to partner with someone to do this (and what a great idea!) then contact the author/seller. Most vendors, inside and outside publishing, love to make bulk sales at a steep discount. Often 70-80% off retail.
-Don’t want to spend money or pair up? No worries. As an author or publisher you can write your own special report, booklet, eBook, etc. Just make sure it has a significant value.
-Assign a value to your new publication. Some eBooks have a price of $9.97, $17, $17.95, $19.95, $24.50 and in some cases even higher. Set the price based on your market’s perceived value of the product.
-Round up the price. Make it easy to make a purchase and the dollars and cents clear.
We rounded up the price of Red Hot Internet Publicity from $18.95 to $20 and gave away Book Promotion Made Easy for $0.00.
It’s important, however to explain the savings clearly so the customer sees the great value you’re offering.
-Add a special landing page to your website that promotes your special offer.
For an example, here’s ours: http://www.amarketingexpert.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=104
-Link the landing page (offer) to your shopping cart, PayPal, etc.
-Fill the orders asap. Buyers are a very impatient group these days.
-Promote your package to your mailing list and if you’re partnering with someone, make sure they promote it to their list as well.
Book bundling is a fun and easy way to increase sales of virtually any book. I have found that when I pair up Book Promotion Made Easy with mine at speaking events, I quadruple the sales there as well. Two books for $20? You bet that’s a great offer and not only that, it moves books and moves them quickly.
The key is to feed into the bargain mentality that seems to permeate society. You can play the bargain game and win and the best part? As you’re selling all these books you’re also growing your mailing list, yes? As a bonus, we offered a free Twitter class to everyone who bought the bundle. We didn’t advertise it though, we told them after their purchase. It adds that special “thank you” to our message and builds customer loyalty.
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com. To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@amarketingexpert.com Copyright © 2010 Penny C. Sansevieri
How to Monetize “Free”
How to Monetize “Free”
These days, everyone talks about free content. “Give it away!” they say, but does this really work? Well, yes and no. As with anything, there has to be a strategy.
Last Saturday I was on my morning run through our neighborhood and I noticed a number of garage sale signs (that’s tag sale for those of you back east). One of the signs had a sign beneath it that read: We have free stuff! As I ran though the neighborhood I passed that house and noticed they put all their free stuff in the “Free zone” and already, even at that early hour, hoards of people were migrating there. I passed the other garage sales which were doing OK, but not great. Clearly the one with the free stuff pulled more people, but did it actually sell more paid merchandise? Yes. I checked in with the sale after my run to find most of the good stuff gone (note to self: shop first, exercise later). When I talked to the homeowner they said that the free stuff went fast, but as I noted each time I passed by, it wasn’t junk stuff, it was actually good enough to make the garage sale shopper feel like they got a real deal. If it’s junk and it’s free, it doesn’t really matter.
What’s the lesson here? Free stuff can help you sell more of the paid merchandise, but you have to be careful, because some people just want freebies and that’s fine. But they are not your customers. Here are some tips to help you maximize the use of free:
1. Why free? The first question you should ask yourself is why are you doing this? If you aren’t sure, then free might not be right for you. Free content should be offered to help further your message, build a list, and get new people into your marketing funnel. If your model isn’t set up this way, maybe it should be. If you aren’t interested in this kind of a marketing model, then free probably isn’t your thing.
2. Define how free can help: Figure out why you want to give free stuff. As I mentioned above, getting clear about your model will help determine if a free product is even worth your time. If it is, then you need to figure out how it will help you. As an example, we have a lot of free stuff on the Author Marketing Experts, Inc. site (www.ameauthors.com) but the free for us is designed to build trust. Distrust is rampant online, and in particular, in the book promotion and publishing industry. There are a lot of scams out there and so trust is important. Our free stuff builds our mailing list, yes, but it also builds trust.
3. Make sure it’s really free: A lot of people have content that is purported to be free when it’s not really free. What I mean is that you get a sliver of it, not even a piece really worth mentioning, but the stuff you want is something you have to pay for. If you want to do free, make it free. Find something of value and give it to your customers.
4. Make it something your end user wants: As I’ve mentioned a few times, make sure the free is something people want. If it isn’t you a) won’t bring in the right crowd of people (you’ll end up just getting the freebie hunters, and b) you won’t build your mailing list as fast. So, for example, give your readers something really substantial like an e-book or tips, or a workbook. Virtually any electronic product is easy to create and deliver. When I changed our freebie on the Author Marketing Experts, Inc. website, we quadrupled our sign-ups. So, what was the freebie? 52 Ways to Sell More Books. Now, as an author, isn’t that appealing to you? Exactly my point.
So, what if you’ve written a fiction book? Well, consider this: 83% of Americans want to write a book, so what if you gave them a free how-to guide? You don’t even have to create this yourself, you could partner with someone who has already created this. If you don’t like that idea, consider (for those of you in the historical fiction market) doing a did-you-know piece on the history you’re referencing in your book. The idea here is to a) give value, and b) give your readers something they will care about. Also, whenever possible, give your readers something they need to keep so it will remind them of you and your book: tip sheets, workbooks, reference charts. All of these things are pieces that your consumer may keep, which can keep you top of mind.
5. Take names: You should never give free away without asking for an email address. I see people do this all the time; they have a ton of free stuff but never collect emails. If that’s the case, the freebies you are offering may be of great value to your end user but they won’t matter to your marketing. Get emails. It’s called an ethical bribe. You get something (their email) and give them something (the free stuff).
6. Make it easy to get: Don’t make free difficult. What I mean is make it easy to get your free stuff. If people have to jump through hoops, they won’t do it and the free stuff won’t matter. For example – put your free stuff on your home page, or at least have a link to it, though I recommend using free stuff as an ethical bribe (as a way to get sign-ups for your newsletter). When you ask for their email, make it easy. A simple click or two is all it should take. Then, don’t ask for too much information. If you ask me for my address, birthday, and whatnot I doubt I will want your free stuff that badly. Shorten the staircase. If you make it complicated, it’s not really free. Just bait. If you bait your consumer in this fashion. You’ll lose them.
7. Make the free stuff work for you: If you give away something, make sure that it works for you. What I mean is that when you get our free stuff, we always make sure and remind folks of who we are and what we do. For a while we had a free Twitter e-book that always went out with our product catalog imbedded in it.
8. Call to action: Make sure that your free stuff has a call to action. You are collecting names and email addresses and building your list, that’s great. But what do you really want people to do? Define what you want them to do, and then include your call to action in the free stuff. Let’s face it, it’s a good piece – designed to help your reader – but it must also help you. It’s ok to promote your book on the last page, or encourage folks to do a consult with you if that’s what you offer. You can also offer specials and change these periodically in the giveaway.
9. What will you give? People often ask me what you should give away, and I say, it depends: Who is your market and what do they want? Now, on our site you’ll see 52 Ways to Sell More Books, which is an e-book we offer when you sign up for our newsletter. Do our folks want that? You bet. Why? Because they are authors and authors want to sell more books. A special report or e-book always makes a great freebie, maybe you have a white paper that you did on the industry; if so, offer it as a freebie.
10. Follow up! The best kind of free stuff is, as I like to call it, the gift that keeps giving. Auto responders are a great system but often underutilized when it comes to marketing. If you are collecting names and then never contacting your prospects again, what’s the point? Our 52 Ways to Sell More Books is delivered over several weeks, and then when we’re done, we deliver more quality content. People need to be reminded, and reminded again. Now, you can also funnel folks into your newsletter as I mentioned earlier. I do both. We have the auto responder and the newsletter. Think it’s too much? Maybe, but our market wants information. Define what your market wants and then give it to them. If a newsletter and an auto responder is overkill, then scale it back. No one knows your market like you do.
The real key here is that free stuff can work well for you in so many ways, but free stuff without a goal is just free. Great to get free stuff, right? But then how is all of this hard work going to pay off for you?
If you still aren’t a believer of free, try it for 90 days and see if it doesn’t change your life. If you do it right, free will monetize your audience like nothing else will. The biggest reason is that in an age of pushing things on consumers, your audience really wants to sample what you have to offer before they buy. Free is a great way to do that. It’s also a great way to stay in front of your audience, build trust, and develop a loyal following.
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert and an Adjunct Instructor with NYU. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com. To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@amarketingexpert.com Copyright © 2010 Penny C. Sansevieri
How to Brand Yourself in Public Speaking
How to Brand Yourself in Public Speaking
By Nancy Daniels
In today’s world of public speaking, standing out from the crowd is one of your first priorities in establishing a career at the podium. Your success depends on it.
Your first step is to limit yourself in your topics. Talking about financial planning, motivation, and dog training is not a good idea because you will not be successful. You will be spreading yourself too thin. You need to narrow your focus so that you can target a particular type of audience for your particular subject.
In order to market yourself and your own individuality, you must have something that sets you apart from all others. What is your specialty? What is your niche? Perhaps you have a different philosophy on motivation from that of Anthony Robbins or maybe you have an approach for improving your sales which differs from that of Zig Ziglar. Even if your material is very similar to one of these men, perhaps your unique delivery is your strength.
Once you have established your niche, you need to decide on a name that brands you. James Malinchak, for example, is The Big Money Speaker. His specialty is the college market and he talks about leadership skills. Both Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield are renowned for their ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series of books. Whenever either one is introduced, ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ follows their name.
Do you have a name, a theory, or a product that you can capitalize on? If you are a landscaper, your topics could range from pavers to plants. Can you think of a title that would describer you as well as be memorable? Is there a style of clothing you wear that would mark you? I once heard a retired marine who always wore his combat uniform on stage because his topic was about winning the war of business.
Choose your brand carefully and then see if you can get the domain name for it as well as your own personal name. If, for example, you wanted to be AutoGuru and the name was taken, try TheAutoGuru. Be creative and you will be surprised what you may find.
If you want your audience to remember you, your presentation is obviously the most valuable gift you can give them. However, if you brand yourself in the process, it will be that much easier for them to remember you and recommend you as well.
The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. For more information on upcoming workshops, visit Voice Dynamic.
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How Not to Be a Published Author
How Not to Be a Published Author
By Ilana D
The following “advice” is nothing more than my writing solution to deal with various rejections I faced recently. The core of them is represented by those based on fully justified reasons. My serious advice is that every failure, if analyzed and considered correctly, might be a valuable source for progress and positive change. Although, probably, the first five minutes after you receive a negative answer are not the happiest of your life. Most importantly is enabling you to test your chances, your mistakes and to use the conclusions for a qualitative change.
And now, avoid doing the following mistakes:
- Send the article before any previous grammar or orthographic checking. Believe that the force of your inspiration is more powerful than grammar!
- Doesn’t matter that your article fails the main publishing criteria in terms of wording accuracy. The editor’s job is operating the wonderful corrections. He is the editor, the one whose main task is to polish words. You are the inspired and wonderful writer.
- You are so famous and with such an impressive writing credentials that nobody will take the risk to refuse a wonderful piece of article written by you. Despite the mistakes – including the serious breach of logic – any editor in this world will be more than honoured to count you among the team of contributors. The implicit double work of the editor with your (stupid) mistakes is a pleasant chore polishing your unbreakable statue of queen or king of the publishing world.
- Following the publication of your article, in an edited and changed formula, don’t face the two variants: the one you sent with the one released. You are a genius and the changes are the result of the envy of a narrow-minded editor.
- After finishing the article and while your wonderful creation is on his virtual highway to the editor’s mailbox, send another 10 e-mails (at least) with various corrections, including names or sources or data. The editor is all yours, and will work intensively to collect and connect all your 10+ e-mails. It’s important that you realized there are some mistakes, isn’t it?
- Are you receiving an impressive amount of rejections? Never open them. Never. They contain poison producing deadly effects to your inspiration. Eventually, send to the editor the same article again. Without any further proof-reading, of course. Most probably, they made a terrible confusion and a warning is necessarily.
- Are there any chances that your article will be published, but only following complex changes? Forget about it. you don’t have time to introduce all the changes, as you are busy writing other hundreds of articles for your hungry audience. And, anyway, what you are doing is your own business, but still you don’t want to make any changes.
- Be as chaotic as possible: start writing at least five articles in the same time, write one sentence for each and then switch to the next, eventually, write the same sentence in all five. As mentioned, beforehand you are a genius in progress.
Good luck!
Freelance writer and communications consultant living in Berlin.
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How It Works: Publishing to Kindle
How It Works: Publishing to Kindle
By Dana Burnett
The publishing industry has changed, and as writers we need to learn how to change with it. The trend has changed from traditional books to the eBook and Amazon is leading the way. The retail giant recently announced that Kindle books have officially overtook paperbacks for the first time. Jump on this trend by publishing to Kindle.
Getting Started
Amazon makes it easy to get started. First you will need an Amazon Direct Publishing account. If you are an Amzon.com customer, you can even use the same email and password. You will be required to enter your name, address, and tax information. You will also be asked the most important question which is how you want to be paid.
Edit and Then Edit Some More
No amount of publicity or promotion can make up for a poorly written and edited book. Upload on your very best work that has been proofed numerous times by several people. Part of the stigma attached to self published titles is the poor quality of the copy editing. Don’t be part of that problem. Take the time to edit your book thoroughly.
Design Your Cover
Regardless of all the warnings, people do judge a book by its cover. Sure you can \design your own or hire someone to do it for you, but keep in mind that this is different than print. Your cover must stand out from others on a webpage, that’s a little different than standing out on a shelf. Your goal is to make your cover so intriguing that people just have to click the title and learn more. (Hint: Test possible cover designs on your blog or website and let your readers select the best one, the answers will surprise you.)
Upload Your Content
Kindle Direct Publishing makes it easy to upload your content by supporting many document formats such as.zip,.doc,.pdf,.epub,.txt, and.mobi and.prc. Select your format and upload your book and cover where indicated. It couldn’t be easier.
Publish Your Book
Publishing to Kindle requires very little effort once your content is uploaded. You will be asked about digital rights management, royalty preferences, book price, and a description of your book. There is a debate as to the best price for Kindle books, but most self published authors agree that sales are better when books are priced below three dollars.
Promote Your Book
All that is left to do is for you to promote your book. This can be as simple as telling your family and friends or it can be as complicated as a ten page marketing plan. The point is that success of your book depends not only on the quality of the work, but also that amount of work you put into getting the word out. And you thought the hard part was writing the book!
Now that you know the basics to publishing on Kindle, why don’t you get started living the life of a Kindle author?
Dana Michelle Burnett is the bestselling Kindle author of Home Decorating for the Real World. Her first fiction novel Ghost Country: A Novel was published to Kindle in December of 2010. She shares her experiences as an author at her blog Indie Author Guide.
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How Authors Can Benefit From Visiting Book Fairs
How Authors Can Benefit From Visiting Book Fairs
By Julia McCutchen
It is one of the main book fairs which take place each year for professionals in the book trade alongside Book Expo in New York, Frankfurt and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. There are also many smaller yet worthwhile book fairs and exhibitions internationally.
Many authors wonder if it is worth attending these trade fairs and many commentators say that it isn’t. My view is that it can be a valuable experience if you approach it with the right mindset. You also need to plan your visit well in advance and wear sensible shoes in the knowledge that you’ll be on your feet for most of the day!
It is important to be realistic when thinking through a book fair visit, especially if you have a vision of meeting agents and editors to present your book to them. Most publishing professionals will have filled their schedule of 30 minute meetings well in advance of the fair taking place.
Having said that, serendipity can, and does, occur at book fairs.
When I was attending these events as a publisher, I remember well the number of times an author just happened to turn up at our stand when I was in between meetings. On some of those occasions, I did engage in impromptu conversations about new projects, and although it was rare, some of those spontaneous approaches did lead to us to publish the book the author had presented.
So here are 3 tips to help you benefit from attending a book fair this year:
1. Do some research to understand the basics about book fairs, set clear intentions of what you want to achieve, and plan your visit in advance. These events were created primarily for people in the industry and most professionals are there to do business with other trade insiders. Many agents and the conglomerate publishers will not be interested in the kind of spontaneous connections I described earlier. In fact, unless you have an appointment, you probably won’t be allowed in to the agent’s area which is cordoned off from the public.
However, there are many possibilities for authors who let go of unrealistic expectations and who concentrate on what is possible.
For example, you can:
• Research appropriate agents and contact them in advance to set up an appointment at the book fair
• Attend one of the increasing number of seminars being held specifically for authors to help you to get your first book published or advance your career as an established writer
• Identify publishers you may not have come across before who might be interested in your book and keep up-to-date with the ‘vibe’ in the industry.
2. Prepare appropriate materials to take with you.
Although it is unwise to count on being able to show your book ideas to anyone for the reasons I have already given, I do recommend that you take some good quality information with you just in case the opportunity does arise.
Here are my suggestions of what you should have with you. If you are writing:
• non-fiction, take a good book proposal with you plus one or two sample chapters for your book
• fiction, take a one page and a two page version of your synopsis available plus information about you as the author and ideally some marketing ideas
• an illustrated book, take some sample illustrations to show your vision of how you see the book overall.
Make sure that your contact details are securely attached to any material you might have the chance to leave with an agent or editor.
3. Remain alert to unexpected opportunities.
Alongside sensible planning, I also recommend keeping your eyes and ears open for spontaneous possibilities cropping up. You might not be able to get to see the particular agent or publisher you have targeted as being perfect for your book, but you never know who you’ll stand next to in the queue for coffee!
In such a situation, remember the importance of being able to describe your book in one compelling key sentence. That way, the person concerned can quickly make a judgment on whether further discussion is relevant or not. Finally, keeping an open mind will enable you to leave with more information, resources, contacts and opportunities for your book and to further your journey to successful published authorship – and beyond!
Julia McCutchen opens the way for writers to find their true voice, discover themselves in the process, and write consciously, creatively, successfully and with soul. A former managing director and publisher with over 20 years’ publishing experience, Julia’s holistic approach includes coaching, mentoring and masterclasses for aspiring authors. To access free articles, audios and other resources for writers, visit http://www.JuliaMcCutchen.com and http://www.iaccw.com
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How to Write an Author Bio
How to Write an Author Bio
By Barbra Sundquist
Wondering how to write an author bio? Feeling like it has to be extra-special because you are a writer? You are not alone. Even though writers have a natural ability to put words together, most writers find it excruciatingly difficult to write an author biography. This article gives practical guidance on how to write an author bio, along with some author bio examples.
Let your author bio brand you
Here are some points to consider when writing your author bio.
1) Think about who is going to be your reader. It could be an editor but it could also include business associates, radio hosts, or even your own family. Write your author biography for your intended reader, and don’t forget that your readers might include people from different backgrounds and generations.
2) Prepare several author biographies of different lengths. Pull one out for an appropriate setting. Author bio examples can range from a short single sentence blurb for a magazine, a longer version of about 100 words in a query letter for a novel, to a full page for a press release.
3) Decide on the points you want to include. Most people find that they have more information than they need. Be ruthless in editing your bio to include only points that are relevant. Should your fishing hobby be mentioned in your bio for a murder mystery novel that you are submitting to a publisher? Probably not, unless the murder took place at a fishing lodge. You worked in a coroner’s office for a couple of weeks to learn about medical examiner’s terminology? Now that’s relevant.
4) Make a list of writing credits to highlight. Limit your credits to not more than three or else it would take up too much space in your author biography.
5) Include contact information and website so readers can learn more about you and your writing. You can include a longer author biography when you write your website biography.
Reveal your personality in your author biography
An author biography plays an important role because it communicates who you are. In the same way that a business card introduces you, an author biography serves as a short introduction to your writing. Take the time to think carefully about what you want readers to remember when they hear your name.
Readers like to know about you. Personal information such as marital status, number of children, pets and hobbies show that you are a normal person and help readers relate to you. However, if you don’t feel comfortable including personal information you don’t have to.
Reflect your writing style in your author bio
When writing your author biography, give readers a sense of what to expect from your writing. Tailoring the tone of your author biography to the content and style of your work. If you’re a humorous or satirical writer, include some humor in your author bio. If you’re an academic writer, reflect the academic world. The tone you take in writing an author bio creates an expectation of your written work.
Here are two contrasting examples:
Norman Langford grew up spying on the neighbours and taking notes in a little black book. No surprise that he ended up writing spy novels!
Dr. Laura Smith has been writing on gender studies for over 20 years. Her research interests include mothering, gender roles and media representation of women.
Have fun writing an author bio
Writing an author biography can be a fun task. The less stressed you are, the more creative your bio will be. So have fun when you sit down to write your author biography.
Have fun? Easier said than done, you may be thinking. If writing an author bio seems daunting, here’s a final tip: BioTemplates.com provides instant fill-in-the-blank bio templates to help you write your author biography. You’ll have a great bio completed within the next 20 minutes. Now that sounds more like fun!
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How To Create Your Own Mini-Seminar
by Kendall Summerhawk
Audio is a really fun, effective way to create connection with your website visitor. My audio mini-seminar series receives rave reviews…and makes sales for my different information products, like my Website Wisdom Writing course and upcoming “How to Charge What You’re Worth and Get It!” audio and workbook program.
If you’ve been thinking about creating your own audio mini-seminar but weren’t quite sure how to get it all set up, then you’ll love these 7 simple steps.
There are several small steps that go into setting up your audio mini-seminar. Just follow them and you’ll have your own audio mini-seminar up, helping you sell your services or products in no time!
Step 1 Decide on your audio mini-seminar topic Choose a focal point for your audio mini-seminar. I usually recommend choosing a specific topic that directly relates to the type of service you provide and want to be hired for. Make your chose specific, targeted, and clear.
Tip: You don’t need to cover everything you can help a client with in your audio mini-seminar.
Step 2 Decide on the number of steps This is not the time to try and “teach” your listener to be an expert. Keep your audio mini-seminar focused on delivering tiny tidbits of information, organized into a specific number of steps.
Tip: I recommend 5 or 7 tips, delivered every-other-day by autoresponder.
Step 3 Include a “call to action” in each audio tip Getting your listener to take action is a super way to deliver value. End each audio tip with a specific request your listener can take action on right away. Better yet, ask them to email you with the results!
Step 4 Record each audio I recommend about 2-4 minutes for each audio length. I record mine right from my telephone, using my Audio Acrobat account. I love this service! It is fast, simple, and inexpensive to use. And, once you get a feel for using it, you’ll find many more ways to put it to work for you as a valuable marketing tool.
Tip: Audio Acrobat lets you create different folders within your account. I store my audio mini-seminar recordings in one folder to keep them neatly organized.
Step 5 Post each audio tip on it’s own page on your website The more you can get your listener to go to your site, the better off you are. Post each audio tip on it’s own page. Include an extra note, example, or checklist on the page. Your listeners will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Tip: Create a link for the prior audio tips and include on each new tip page. This way, if someone didn’t receive the last audio tip, or wants to hear it again, all they need to do is scroll down on the current audio tip’s page and click on the link for any of the past tips.
Step 6 Set up the email autoresponder series I use my newsletter broadcast system. You can also use the autoresponders that should come with your web hosting. If you’re not technical, do NOT let this part trip you up! Ask for help from your web master.
All YOU need to do is write a short, upbeat email message introducing each of your audio tips. Include the link to the tip’s web page you created in Step 4. I like to include a list of the upcoming tip topics to pique the readers’ interest.
Tip: Add a “PS” to each email with a little tantalizing question or statement that they can ONLY find out about by listening to your audio.
Step 7 Add the sign-up form to your website Add your opt-in box at the top of your home page AND at the bottom. Is that too much? No. It helps attract attention and encourages sign-ups. Get your web designer to create a graphical “doo-dad” (that’s my technical term and my web designer loves it!) to draw attention to your audio min-seminar.
Tip: Add a graphical doo-dad for your newsletter too, so your free give-away looks even more tangible. Take a look at my site for an example of what I’m talking about.
It took me one day to get everything set up, tested, and working. Is it worth it? My website converts an average of 15% of the visitors to newsletter/audio mini-seminar subscribers. That is a fantastic percentage so, yes, it is WELL worth it!
You are welcome to publish this article in its entirety, electronically, or in print free of charge, as long as you include my full signature file for ezines, and my Web site address in hyperlink for other sites. Please send a courtesy link or email where you publish to Kendall@KendallSummerHawk.com
Copyright 2006 – 2009. All Rights Reserved.
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Small business expert and author Kendall SummerHawk is the
“Horse Whisperer for Business.” Kendall delivers smart, simple
ways entrepreneurs can brand, package and price their services
to quickly move away from “dollars-for-hours work” and create
more money, time, and freedom in their businesses. To learn
more about her book, Brilliance Unbridled, and sign up for more
FREE tips like these, visit her site at:
http://www.kendallsummerhawk.com
Kendall Summerhawk may be contacted at http://www.kendallsummerhawk.com or kendallteam@kendallsummerhawk.com
How to Write a Book Review (For a Fiction Book)
How to Write a Book Review (for a Fiction Book)
By J. Timothy King
One of the best gifts you can give to an author, to thank them for writing a book you’ve read, is to write a simple, one-paragraph review–good or bad. This kind of review is great for posting on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, GoodReads, Google Books, and other similar sites. You can even turn it into a quick blog post, with a little bit of enhancement.
Here’s how to write one:
- First, ask yourself a few simple questions:
- What struck you the best about the book? This could be one of the characters, the way the author tells her story, the quality of her prose, or anything else that strikes you in a positive way.
- What struck you the worst about the book? Again, this can be any quality or characteristic of the book.
- Do you plan to read more books in the series (if applicable) or by the same author?
- How did the story make you feel? This is especially important for fiction, but a good non-fiction book should make you feel something, too: agitated, excited, hopeful, depressed, introspective, or whatever.
- What one biggest lesson, discovery, or new idea did you take away from the book? This is especially important for non-fiction, but a good fiction book should expose you to new ideas and make you think, and so it too should have a take-away.
- Write the answers down in paragraph form, using a word-processor or text editor… or using the “Stickies” application on your Mac. You don’t have to be fancy about what you write. Just write casually, as though you were telling a friend about the book, around the water cooler.
- Rate the book on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. The rating system I use is very simple, and I can instantly come up with a consistent rating, based on my gut-reaction to a book. No complex analysis required.
- 1 star — I hated it. (And if I really hated it, ½ star, for those sites that support such a low rating.)
- 2 stars — I didn’t like, and didn’t hate it, either. (This is the worst rating, because it means the book didn’t even make enough of an impact for me to hate it.)
- 3 stars — I liked it, but I probably won’t be reading more books like it, if I can help it.
- 4 stars — I really liked it, enough so that I would like to read more books like it (or the same book over again), someday.
- 5 stars — I loved it, so much that I feel a sense of loss for having finished it, so much that I long to read more books like this (not “someday” but right now), so much that I can almost taste the next book in the series and can’t wait for Amazon to deliver it, so much that… Well, you get the idea, right?
- Post your review on Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, GoodReads.com, books.LivingSocial.com, books.Google.com, and any other book sites you frequent that accept user reviews. Just log in to the site (if required), copy and paste your paragraph into the form on each site, select the appropriate number of stars according to your rating, and submit your review.
- Bonus: Repurpose the review as a blog post for your blog. Entitle the post something like “Book Review: [book title]” or a similarly descriptive title. Write the words “Publisher’s description:” and copy and paste the book description from the publisher’s information at Amazon. Or alternatively, copy the book description from the book’s back cover, and preface it with the words “From the back cover:” or the like. After the publisher’s description, paste in your one-paragraph review. Then give your rating at the end.
If you’re an author, you probably appreciate how meaningful reader reviews are. We know that readers don’t always love our books, at least not as much as we love them. But always for an author, the challenge is to get noticed. And reader reviews not only help your favorite author get noticed, they’ll also comfort him that people are indeed reading his books.
J. Timothy King is an indie author of life-expanding, contemporary romance novels and other works. His latest book is From the Ashes of Courage, the first in the new Ardor Point series of novels. When not writing, he reads, plays bass guitar, and cares for his family in their Boston-area apartment. Find more of his work at www.JTimothyKing.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J._Timothy_King
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Write-a-Book-Review-(for-a-Fiction-Book)&id=4084058
How to Write a Book Jacket Cover
How to Write a Book Jacket Cover
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Heather_R._Todd]Heather R. Todd
Last week I covered the ‘Why’ of writing book jacket copy, so now let’s roll up our sleeves and get into the ‘How.’
What is copy? Book jacket copy isn’t about summarizing your project or providing the reader with a clear synopsis or plot spoiler; it’s about sales. Book copy should be short, succinct, and send a message. It should grab the reader and tell them why they should pick your book rather than the thousands of other titles packed into the shelves.
How do I write it? First, and foremost, you should draft a synopsis of your project. This will help you to determine which plot points you want to highlight and which you don’t want to spoil for the reader. Once you’ve got your synopsis down, there are three components to creating effective book jacket copy:
Attention: Start off your copy with a powerful hook that demands attention. Is there a central question or revelation in your plot? You might start off with the first sentence or two from your plot summary.
Interest: Intrigue interest and create curiosity. Again, book jacket copy is about sales, and copywriters generally have knowledge of certain key words that engage readers and get them excited about a book. These terms relate to each genre and audience; the same words that entice a thirteen-year-old girl to purchase a young-adult book will be far different from the key words in place on the back of a literary novel aimed at an adult audience. Your best bet? Research your market.
Detail: Provide details about your story, but again, don’t turn your book copy into a spoiler! The best way to know how much detail to include is to read other book jackets. Start with those in a genre similar to your book; copy on a romance novel, for instance, is going to be vastly different from a science fiction or horror story. This will also help you to get a feel for your audience and what they want to read.
You might even want to peruse the New York Times Bestseller List – choose a couple of books from the list and read over their jacket copy. The jacket copy may not be the only thing selling those books, but it can’t hurt to check out the success stories.
A final caveat: The amount of copy that appears on your book jacket is completely based on the final book design.
Book jacket copy is meant to be slightly over-the-top and sales pitch-y, so have fun with it, and take the opportunity to really make your book shine and out-sell all the rest.
Keep in mind that while you may try to design and format your book jacket cover on your own, there are professional editors who will do it for you. An experienced editor will create a professionally written book jacket cover that will capture your audience’s attention. This is short, succinct copy that sends a strong message about your writing.
Heather Todd is full-time professional editor, published writer & marketing consultant whose passion is to help others create a letter-perfect presentation in their writing. Ms. Todd is Senior Level III Editing Consultant for http://www.FirstEditing.com
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Write-a-Book-Jacket-Cover&id=4084994] How to Write a Book Jacket Cover
