THE END

Since the only numbers this blog has seen in quite some time are the single digit visits by my good friends and fellow writers, I’ve decided in the interest of time and quality of life, to discontinue posting here.

What is the sound of one hand clapping? Does a tree that falls in a forest with no one around to hear it fall make a sound? Does a blog read by so few make any difference?

My newsletter: BETWEEN THE MARGINS will continue – so as long as you are subscribed to that, you’ll continue to receive it on or around the 15th of every month. I’m delighted to say those numbers are going up! And, if you’d like to subscribe, you can do so by visiting: On-Target Words  and completing the newsletter request form.

Be well, keep reading and writing and enjoying life. And thanks for checking in here! Nancy Q.

Learning New Things

All right. It seems to be true that an old dog can be taught new tricks. Or at least, even though I’m now into my 60s, I can still learn new things.

Last week, on Wednesday March 9th, I participated in a FACEBOOK book launch party. I’ve been invited to a few before, but not understanding how to attend, let alone participate (I’m sorry, I know how lame this may sound) I declined most of them. I’ve attended two as a guest, but when the words got flying about at the speed of light, I gave up, shut down and went and had a glass of wine instead.

What I didn’t understand was that I should have just brought my wine to the party. Now Skye Taylor’s party was to celebrate the launch of THE CANDIDATE, a political suspense with a touch of romance and whole lot of political machinations, originally published two elections ago under the title WHATEVER IT TAKES. The fresh new cover and title really give this book the punch and pizazz it has always demanded. If you haven’t read it, go get it! I suspect men and women alike will enjoy this powerful, fast-paced read.

But, back to what I didn’t know – and what I learned. I was an invited author, and as such, the event planner, in this case Skye, sent me detailed instructions on how to send a blast out to my Facebook friends which included a link to the event. Facebook is all set up to handle almost all the rest of it! We each chose a 30-minute segment to keep attendees engaged and entertained and it was so much fun, that when the 3 hours was over, I think we were all sort of disappointed. Like having to go home after a super fun REAL party!

Yes, I got lost twice. Not sure yet what happened, but I kept at it until I was in the right place at the right time. My system, powered by the finest DSL connection money can apparently buy, gets quirky out here in rural Florida, but I kept at it. We all had fun. We answered trivia questions, celebrated the military heroes in our lives, learned a good deal about the lovely state of West Virginia and some interesting facts about dogs, too.

But more importantly for me, I learned that all I had to do was say yes, admit I’d need some tutoring (okay, remedial help may be more accurate) and allow myself to have a really good time meeting new people. And I met some wonderful readers and made some new friends and I know that Skye sold a good number of books in the following days, so I helped a long-time friend, too.

Moral of this story: Don’t be afraid to try new things, no matter how intimidating they may be! And keep in mind that social media is here to stay. It can be our friend when used responsibly. Just like a really good wine.

Keep reading and writing! Nancy Q.

 

Successful Book Promotion

At the January meeting of the Ancient City FWA group, Mandie Stevens and Tawdra Kandle, the owners of PromotionalBookTours.com  joined us to engage in the conversation of marketing indie books for success. Many worthwhile points were made during the hour presentation and Q&A, including of course, the most important element: write a great book! Marketing and promotion are just things we need to do – don’t dread them, but do them smart!

Some key thoughts I though particularly worth restating here are:

• Don’t make a major investment in your time and money until you’ve completed three books. With Book 1, limit your promo/marketing efforts and spend your time writing book 2. As we’ve all heard many times before, genre series sells.
• You can begin to establish your social media identity with book one and grow it.
• Build a newsletter for your fans – let them know you appreciate them.
• Participate in online events. eBooks are going to represent the bulk of your sales and larger royalties.
• Social Media Tips for Success include: being genuine in your tweets and posts; mix your social media types; post 2-3 non-self promoting posts for every 1 promotional post; be willing to be visible with the social media outlets. This is where you will build your brand the fastest. How do you want to be perceived? What’s unique about you, your books, your characters, your setting, your products? Build your brand out of that knowledge.
• Build a plan: Failure to plan WILL be a plan to fail. To maintain and grow your brand and presence, be prepared to plan 30-60 minutes per day for your social media work. Tools like Hootsuite can help you to write once and post to all.

Many indie authors distribute their books through aggregators like Smashwords, for instance. One that’s newer and allows for preorders and fast turnaround, is DRAFT2DIGITAL.COM. Check them out – clients really liking the results of working with this company.

Face to face opportunities that help to build buzz and promote your brand:

• Conventions: You ARE your brand when you attend events like conferences, books signing events, etc. Get on the panels if you can; engage people at every opportunity; look for book festivals where readers/fans will be present
  • Coastal Magic Book Festival, Daytona Beach, FL (February)
  • Amelia Island Book Festival, Amelia Island, FL (February)
  • Indie Bookfest, Altamonte Springs Hilton (October 2016)

 

Note from Nancy: Check out this site for planning events you may want to attend –

http://www.justtalkingbooks.com/conventions.html

FANS or CUSTOMERS?

ADMIRERS OR BUYERS?

When I read this headline at Copyblogger last week, I thought, well, the author in me needs to develop fans, while the On-Target Words owner in me needs to develop customers. Right? Well, maybe it’s not that simple.

A terrific point made this past weekend by author and entrepreneur Mandie Stevens at the FWA meeting in St. Augustine, was that “this [writing and selling books]is my business.” And writing for any reason other than it’s a hobby makes it a business. So, marketing and promotion of our books has a mission.

TO SELL BOOKS, right? Right!

Now, to take another run at this conundrum, let’s cut to Ben Hale, popular (and successful) sci-fi author and businessman who supports his family of five on his eBook royalties. We taught an all-day workshop together last spring, so I got to sit in his session and learn a lot. And, one of the most memorable things (for me) that he discussed was NOT focusing on book sales. His writing is his livelihood. He loves it. He excels at it. He markets and promotes his books 5 days a week for 60 minutes per day; he writes for 7-8 hours a day. Still, his social media work, which represents 98% of his promotional and marketing venues, is all about developing “fans.” He believes that if he develops fans, he will have a loyal fan base.

Now, why is that important? Because fans BUY YOUR BOOKS. Your new ones and your backlist. And, they talk about your books to others. So, aren’t they customers?

Sure they are. Whether we call them fans or customers, they deserve our best writing. And successful salespeople (any field of sales) will tell you that their success lies in the relationships they’ve built with their customers.

In time, if we continue to write good, polished books and do the work to get the word out about them, we’ll sell a lot of books. We’ll earn more and more in royalties. We’ll reach those goals if we keep writing, editing and producing great books! In essence, if we continue to earn the trust and faith of our fans, we’ll have good customers, too. So, you see, I think of fans and customers in the same way. Now the article I read pointed out that not all fans will become customers, but they are very valuable for the referrals and “buzz” they may provide for your work or product.

I’m with Ben – don’t preoccupy yourself with your sales numbers. This career, like any other, will take hard work and a lot of time. Your business will take time, energy, planning and financial backing. Those are just basic facts of life for any business.

Put the majority of your time and energy into producing a terrific book, no matter what genre or topic you’re writing. Put your money into professional editing and covers, maybe even formatting if you’re going indie on the publishing. And then do it all again! Readers are loyal, but don’t expect them to wait five years for your next book. Two a year is probably the least you should plan on – but make sure they’re great. Keep your hard-won customers satisfied.

I loved this Mickey Spillane quote: “I have no fans. You know what I got? Customers. And customers are your friends.” There are more than 225 million copies of Mickey Spillane books on the market today! If the proof is in the results, then Mickey (1918-2006) sure knew what he was talking about! And I’m one of his avid customers! Nancy Q.

TOP 10 MISTAKES EVERY AUTHOR SHOULD AVOID

With permission, I’m reprinting a terrific article by book marketing expert, Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts, Inc.   Many may recognize the name from the columns she put in the Florida Writer magazine and some of you have worked with her team directly. I couldn’t agree more – or say this any better – so I hope you’ll read these tips and find them useful for your writing career! Keep reading and writing! Nancy Q. 

Feature Article: Top 10 Mistakes Every Author Should Avoid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As any author discovers, there’s plenty of free advice out there for what they should – and shouldn’t do – when publishing a book. If I had to create a Top 10 list of mistakes authors should avoid at all costs, I’d focus on the following topics, because these omissions can really set you and your book back:

1. Not Understanding the Publishing Industry: Writing a book does not guarantee you readers. Before you publish, do some research – who are your competitors? What do they publish? How is your genre faring in the industry right now? Knowing your market is vital to finding and connecting with readers, receiving book reviews, and getting book sales.

2. Not Realizing Book Covers are Key: Readers and book buyers spend only seconds looking at book covers, and many of them now view thumbnail-size images online. Investing in a professionally designed cover by someone who understands book design and the publishing industry is a smart move. If you can’t capture people’s attention with a strong cover, you’ve likely lost a prospective reader and buyer. You’ve put a lot of work into writing your book; apply the same philosophy to your book cover.

3. Not Knowing That Editing is Your Best Marketing Tool: There are at least 300,000 books published each year, according to Bowker. With all that competition, you want your book to be the best you can make it. A poorly edited book will not gain you readers, reviewers, or fans. If your book is your resume, what kind of message are you sending if your book is full of errors? This is the most common complaint about self-published books: lack of quality control, aka, editing.

4. Not Getting Good Advice: Sure, your mom and your friends support what you do wholeheartedly – but what do they know about publishing and promoting a book? There are so many reputable, free resources available to authors for every phase of their publishing journey – from blogs to social media groups to online forums and more. Take advantage of these resources, ask questions, learn from others, and share your insights.

5. Not Working Your Market: One great thing about social media is it really does let you find people who read books in your genre. And you can cultivate these readers in a number of ways beyond buying, reading, and reviewing your book. Why not seek beta readers from your market before you publish? Many authors have successfully built a stable of pre-publication beta readers who offer their insights. Beta readers are not editors – while they may find a grammatical error or typo, what they really do is help an author understand if the story works, if it’s authentic.

6. Forgetting That It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: If you’re going to publish a book, you have to be in it for the long haul. Those “overnight” success stories are never true. By the time you’ve heard of the author they’ve already put in years working on their writing, getting published, and building a following. Approach your marketing with the long-term in mind.

7. Not Knowing That Timing Matters: This is where a writing, publishing, and marketing plan comes in handy. If you want reviews, you need to build that into your publication schedule because if you seek major review sites or publications, they’ll want a copy of your book at least two to three months before it’s published. If you want a distributor for your book, it’s going to take some time for them to get your book placed. Work out these dates in a flexible plan (to cover for anything that will go awry, this does happen) for publishing your book.

8. Overlooking the Importance of Your Website: Your website is your 24/7 sales hub, and unless you know how to convert web visitors into buyers, you should find a professional to design your site. DIY websites rarely sell books, nor do they help an author’s ranking in Google search. These things matter, and that’s why having your friend’s teenage son design your site is probably not a good idea – unless he knows all about web conversion and SEO.

9. Not Building Relationships: Are you getting book reviews, interviews, or other coverage? If so, be sure to thank them for taking the time to review your book or interview you. These not-so-little things do matter in the long haul. These are people you can approach for your second, third, and subsequent books – and your requests will be successful if you’ve taken the time to build relationships. I can’t believe how rarely authors take the time to say thank you, when that little step can go a long way toward developing a following.

10. Not Trusting Your Team: If you’re hiring people to help you publish and/or market your book, trust their advice. You chose them for a reason (I hope), so take advantage of their expertise. Look for someone with a good track record in the industry who understands the market. Then let them do what you’ve hired them to do – otherwise, what’s the point?

Publishing and promoting a book is a huge challenge, and authors often feel overwhelmed by a myriad of choices. But focusing on a few key areas can be the difference between a book that finds traction versus one that gets lost in the crowd. In the end, it’s worth the time to invest in your book, your team, and your promotion.

BOOK MARKETING AS PART OF YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

Getting the word out is the trick, isn’t it?  As Mark Coker says in his Smashwords Style Guide, hijacking is NOT the worry writers should have – it’s obscurity. And I agree.

I know I’ve hit on this before, but if you are writing for commercial publication, regardless of whether you are published traditionally, indie or self, you need to include a marketing plan in your business plan.

Please don’t fool yourself; this kind of writing is a business. You need to have a budget for your time and money. You need to know how much support you can count on from the family – will someone help run the kids to soccer if you have a book signing event? Will someone help with cooking and laundry when you have a deadline closing in? Will someone help you stuff envelopes for your book signing event? Share your dream and your plan with the family! Let them share in the journey with you. If they buy in on the plan, they’ll be sure to help where they can.

So some of your more obscure budget items will include:

• Marketing materials (bookmarks, post cards, business cards, giveaways) for readers; posters, professional letters and book sale sheets for book sellers, librarians, teachers, etc.

• Copies of your book in various formats: print copies, PDF, ePub and mobi so you can solicit reviews from both online and in-person readers. Reviews make the book sale world go round and round. The e-formats could go on a flash drive as giveaways at a conference or readers group. The print copies are needed for instance if you want to do a Goodreads giveaway campaign which generally produce very good results for building buzz about your book.

• Transportation and meal expenses (keep a travel log in the car or in your purse)

• Personal care: dress to impress, but not overly! Be sure you are well groomed from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Everyone should have a nice business card holder and some nice pens. Keep your dental and medical checkup appointments.

• Daily time to write. For most of the writers I know, including myself, this habit seems to work the best for consistent progress on a manuscript.

• Daily time to market (1-2 hours 6 days a week). This could include blogging at other blog sites, doing Facebook, Twitter, or calling radio stations to do an interview. Every day work on getting the word out.

• Daily time to exercise and laugh (for me, that means dancing in my office behind a closed door. I can’t dance so I laugh a lot – and get some much needed exercise. Kills two birds with one stone.)

• Planned time: with the family, with other writers, with yourself.

As an entrepreneur, you’re going to need to take good care of yourself, but with planning you can do it and if you aren’t completely burned out, you’ll write better, be happier and healthier and probably enjoy pretty good book sales, too.

So – as always – keep reading, keep writing, and keep learning. NQ

PUBLISHING NEWS BYTES: AUG 19, 2015

TRADITIONAL BEST SELLING ADULT FICTION PUBLISHING STATS FOR WOMEN AUTHORS

To summarize – while men are still publishing more books that reach the NYT Best Seller list, books written by women spend more TIME on that list, per book, since we’ve entered the 2010s.

[Excerpted from the blog of author Martin Hill Ortiz] For the full article and this awesome blog, visit http://martinhillortiz.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Analysis

“Between the years 1960 and 2015, 204 authors account for the 598 novels in the number one position on the weekly lists. This includes fifteen co-authors who did not appear separately with novels of their own. Ninety-four authors made one appearance. This means that the authors with multiple entries averaged 5.2 novels.

“From the 1960s through the 1980s, female authors accounted for 33 novels on the list, totaling 280 weeks. Over the same period, male authors accounted for 118 novels for 1181 weeks. Newspaper strikes and non-novels comprised the remaining portion of this time period.

In the 2010s, a near parity has been achieved. While male-written novels outnumbered female-written novels 80 to 65, the female-written novels have been in top position for 150 weeks compared to 124 weeks for male authors. Four out of five of the novels with the longest runs were written by women: Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen; The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins; The Help, Kathryn Stockett; and, Fifty Shades of Grey, E. L. James.

READING IN PRINT HELPS COMPREHENSION

[Full article here: http://mic.com/articles/99408/science-has-great-news-for-people-who-read-actual-books]

A web article by Rachel Grate reports that a 2014 study found readers of a short mystery on a Kindle had far more trouble remembering the order of events than those who read the same story in paperback. So, just perhaps, those of us with “sentimental” reasons for reading our print books whenever possible aren’t too far off the mark.

It would seem that the lack of 3-dimensional qualities of the book itself, such as being able to turn or bend the pages, or to make notes where desired, diminishes our sensory experience and therefore reduces our long-term memory of the texts.

Neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf expressed concerns about the superficial way that we read on screens. We skim over the words as opposed to reading in a linear fashion that allows us to remember the information in a book. She sees our attention spans, as well as ability to focus and remember, being impaired by the online reading experience if not augmented by reading printed materials as well.

Several quality of life items are thought to be enhanced by curling up with a print book, including sleeping better, being less stressed, and improved cognitive function as we age!

CREATE A LISTMANIA! LIST TODAY

Whether you are indi, small or traditionally published, using Amazon’s LISTMANIA! marketing tool sure looks like a great way to cross-pollinate readership! Word of mouth is still (2014) documented as the number one most valuable marketing tool – so get the word out to others who read the type of books you write! Nancy Q.

How to Create a Listmania! list (information provided courtesy of Amazon.com.)

To create a Listmania list:

1. Visit your Profile Page and log into your account if requested.
2. Click the “Edit Your Profile” button on the top right-hand corner of the page.
3. Click the “Lists” tab in the Contributions section of Your Profile.
4. Click the “Create your first one now” link or “Manage your Listmania Lists” link if you already have existing lists.
5. Provide the requested information for your list and click the Preview button to review your list and Publish list when you are finished.

Here’s the information you’ll be asked to enter:

• Name Your List: Enter a friendly title for your list.
• Your qualifications: Your qualifications should be a description of why you’re an expert in the subject of your list.
• Introduction: You can add an optional introductory paragraph to describe the list.
• Add tags: This allows you to add keywords that help others discover your list.
• Add a product: This is the core of your list! You can add anything from the product listings on Amazon.com.

Click here for more information on Listmania! at Amazon.com.

Please post a link to your Listmania! list below.

See you next week!!!

MARKETING POWER IS IN YOUR HANDS

© Gokhan Okur | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Now, I have written this list below, even though some may think these points are no-brainers. I can assure you there are a good number of writers who feel these points aren’t important at all. And that makes the marketplace even harder for those who do understand these initial principles:

• Write a great book
• Edit it until you’ve done all you can on your own
• Follow the basic punctuation and formatting rules
• Have readers who are not family or friends, read your completed and polished first draft
• Consider their comments carefully. If one says something, take a look. If two say the same things, consider making those changes; if three say the same things, make sure you change those things
• Have your manuscript professionally copy edited by a reputable copy editor

Okay, so you’ve got a dynamic, well written and polished book published and ready to go! I suggest that you plan some time to learn about the reasons as well as the methods for getting your book (and/or merchandise) in front of your readers. There are Writers Digest courses you can take. A bit expensive for some, but they’re usually very good. And, there is a boatload of great Internet-based information available for free that’s good, too. Check out the RESOURCES on Createspace, AMarketingExpert.com or Infinity Press for example.

I’m one of those who, once I understand the reasons for doing things, can do them better.

So, if you’d like some resources that are already compiled, written down and could serve as wonderful how-to and why-should-I reference materials, you might consider a few of these books for your education:

• The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to use Visuals, Videos and Social Media to Market Your Brand by Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio
• Winning the Story Wars by Jonah Sachs
• Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman
• Global Content Marketing: How to Create Great Content, Reach More Customers and Build a Worldwide Marketing Strategy that Works by Pam Didner
• The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott. This international bestseller has sole more than 300,000 copies in 25 languages. The subtitle is: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases & Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly

This is not the definitive list – these are just some of the really good books that seem too good not to check out. Now, if you are NOT writing to sell books and make money, then these books will be a huge waste of your time and money! But if marketing your brand for fun, fame and profit is your ultimate goal then understanding the marketplace and buyers should really help you build a good plan for your work.

Just some more food for thought. Wishing you wonderful sales – and don’t forget. Keep writing and reading.  Nancy Q.

BOOK MARKETING BYTES – APRIL

From Author Marketing Experts, Inc –

Do you have older books that aren’t doing very much? Do you have a new book due to come out? Want to bring in new readers and fans? Then this article will be of interest to you!

http://www.amarketingexpert.com/book-bundling-revive-interest-older-books/

 Free eBook Promotion –

List your free or discounted eBook for free on IgniteYourBook.com, or for a small fee get featured in the subscriber newsletter! Find out more at: http://igniteyourbook.com/

 Check out this SITE –

http://thefutureofink.com/free-is-best-marketing-tool/

eBook Promo Sites to check out – get your titles in front of readers!

http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/

http://awesomegang.com/submit-your-book/

http://www.bookgorilla.com/advertise

http://bookloversheaven.com/authors/

http://www.cheapebooksforteens.com/authors/

http://www.book-circle.com/submit-free-kindle-ebook-listing/

And, before I sign off with my customary entreaty to “keep reading and writing” I share a title of a work by Jordan E. Rosenfeld – A WRITER’S GUIDE TO PERSISTENCE!

Keep reading and writing! Nancy Q.

TIP 4: 52 Ways to Sell More Books

[Reprinted with permission from “The Book Marketing Expert newsletter,” a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com%5D

Welcome to Tip #4 of our 52 Ways to Sell More Books! I hope you’re enjoying these tips and they are helping you sell more books. So, ready? Here we go!

Is it ever too late to send review copies?

Often when I teach my book review classes through AME-U, I get a few authors on the call telling me they didn’t know they needed to send their book out for review, or perhaps they did and sent it to the wrong reviewer, wrong publication, or to a market that didn’t consider their genre or (if they were self-published) didn’t want to review a self-pub’d book. So how late is too late to get reviews? Well, honestly that depends on what your book is about. We’re currently working with a book that’s two years old and review copies are flying out the door but guess what? It’s a online campaign. Online tends to be a bit more “forgiving” of time.

If you’re looking for more “bounce” for your book and want to get reviews, try pitching topic-focused blogs, web sites, and magazines. Often these places won’t be as inundated with review requests as book bloggers and review publications will. Also, consider pitching the book as a story, rather than a review. For example our local paper, The San Diego Union Tribune, won’t consider any self published book, but if I pitch them based on a story they’re more inclined to consider it.

So if you’re feeling like you could do more for your older book, get creative. Go after the topic, rather than the glamour blogs and web sites and often you’ll find they are not only very receptive but also when you target a web site, blog or publication that is 100% your audience you’re more likely to make a sale and in the end, isn’t that what all this promotion is all about?

For your free tips and newsletters from Author Marketing Experts, please go to: http://www.ame.

Once again, I thank Author Marketing Experts for allowing us to share this great information! See you all on Wednesday. Keep reading and writing! Nancy Q.