Developing a Platform For Nonfiction Writers- By Robert Rummel-Hudson

Today's guest writer is an author I met through another author who has already contributed to this blog. I have heard him speak about his publishing experience and was thrilled when he agreed to be a guest writer for this blog. His name is Robert Rummel-Hudson and he is the author of the book, Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter, published by St. Martin's Press (Amazon.com link to the book). Already, I have learned that Robert is a professional author at the highest level and when he speaks, other authors and authors-to-be are in for a rare educational treat. Today, he does a masterful job at talking about the importance of creating an author platform. It's my pleasure to introduce this author to you today.

Before we get to his article, I wanted to make a quick announcement. Chapter 9 of the award winning action/adventure novel that NY Times best selling author, Clive Cussler, calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure" has just been released. Each week, I release a new chapter in the serial release. You can start at Chapter 1 if you have not started the book yet or you can visit the online Table of Contents to pick up where you left off. This week, I added the serial release of The Samson Effect to the BookBuzzr widget. Just scroll to the bottom a any chapter post to read the book online in this unique book-like format.

Now, on to Robert's post for today.



Developing a Platform For Nonfiction Writers
By Robert Rummel-Hudson


I can't tell you how many times I've heard it said. In the world of nonfiction writing, platform is everything.

And yet, I'm not entirely sure that we as writers have a very clear understanding of what it means to actually have a platform. When an editor is being pitched a nonfiction proposal, no matter how intriguing the ideas or how promising the writer's voice, the first question they ask is the same: does the author have a good platform? That question is often a deal breaker, too. If your proposal doesn't have a compelling platform, they're on to the next manuscript or proposal on the stack. And most editors have a very tall stack to go through, too. The decision to consider or discard a property is made very quickly, and with a finality that can send new writers straight to their favorite local pub.

So it's crucial to understand it, this all-important idea of platform. And yet, its meaning can be hard to nail down. Put simply, however, platform can be understood best by looking at it almost literally. If your book is the thing that must make itself heard in the world, what is the platform on which it stands to be noticed, and then to be taken seriously?

I don't know if anyone else thinks of it this way, but I see platform as existing on two planes: the internal and the external.

The internal is you, quite simply put. What is it in your head or in your past that makes you the ideal person to write this book? If a publisher reads your proposal and decides that sure, they're interested in producing a book about the secret lives of squirrel monkeys, then your foot is in the door. But their next question is going to be "Why you? What makes you the go-to guy on squirrel monkeys?" Are you a scientist who has studied them for years, hidden in a blind high up in the treetops? Do you raise squirrel monkeys in your garage? Were you abandoned in the jungle and raised by a kindly family of squirrel monkeys? (If you were, and you can prove it, I'd predict a book deal coming your way.) If you're just a person who digs squirrel monkeys, then your platform needs some work.

Beyond that aspect of platform, however, there's more than just identifying your right to be the right author for the job. When other aficionados of squirrel monkeys sit around and talk their simian shop talk, are you someone they quote to back up their lofty arguments? When someone Googles "squirrel monkey", does your name pop up on the first page, after Wikipedia and the zoo exhibits but before the weird yet probably inevitable monkey porn?

Here's where the external comes in. It's possible that you may have a story so compelling that the twentysomething publicist assigned by the publishing house to your book (they always seem to be twentysomethings) can put out a press release and the media will be drawn to you like moths to a light. There are certainly plenty of nonfiction books that have that kind of instant platform based on their subject matter. For the rest of us, however, our books have a much better chance of being picked up by a publisher if we have a foothold in the public arena already in place. You might have had a website called RaisedBySquirrelMonkeys.com (incredibly, the domain seems to be available) that receives regular traffic that can be measured and cited to a potential editor. Even better, that website might have a discussion forum attached to it so that squirrel monkeys nerds from all over can trade tips and argue about monkey food and even start little squirrel monkey flame wars. Perhaps you have a show on cable access or college radio in a significant metropolitan area. Maybe you write a regular column in Squirrel Monkey Monthly. Any of these are good examples of what I think of as external elements of platform.

(It's worth noting, however, that while at one time, and not that long ago, a web presence was considered a happy bonus to a publisher, these days it's pretty much a requirement for a nonfiction author. In my opinion, before you commit a word to paper, you should establish a solid presence online.)

There's another element to platform that is harder to define, and it will be your job to do the research to figure it out. Even with all the pieces of internal and external platform in place, your proposal won't be complete until you figure out exactly where your book fits in the big picture. In most cases, you will be writing a book that has, in some way, been written before. Squirrel monkeys aren't new to the world. Someone's written about them before. Publishers want to know how those other books have been received by the reading public, and they're not going to stop their busy work to do that research themselves. That's your job in your proposal.

At the same time, you have to bring something new to the topic, something that is going to convince old school squirrel monkey fans and uninitiated but curious potential readers alike to buy your book. It's a tricky line to walk, demonstrating that there is enough interest in your subject to justify publication, and at the same time showing that you bring a fresh approach or new information to the field.

In my case, my internal platform wasn't one of the "expert", exactly. My memoir told the story of raising a little girl with a rare brain malformation that robbed her of speech. I'm not a doctor or a speech pathologist, but as her parent, my perspective on my daughter's story was entirely unique. It was even more original because among the stories written by parents of children with disabilities, only a small (but growing) number of them are by fathers. My external platform was boosted by the fact that I had been writing online since before my daughter was born, and her story had gained a large and quantifiable following online. When it came time to purchase an electronic speech device for her, I put together a fundraising page on my website to help defray some of the costs. The response was overwhelming -- we raised just over ten thousand dollars in five weeks -- and illustrated not just that people are kind and generous, but also that they are emotionally invested enough in her story to vote with their wallets. It was enough of a platform to convince St. Martin's Press that if this core audience was already in place, there was tangible growth potential for a book.

Once your platform is developed and you've achieved your goal of publication, you can develop that platform further. In the year and a half since my book came out, I've spoken at a number of universities and disability conferences. I'm invited to speak to speech pathologists and teachers and parents because I have a story to tell, but there are a great many parents with similar stories. The difference for me is that I've told that story. It exists now, as a published work. The book itself has now become platform.

For a nonfiction writer, developing your platform is the single most important step you can make in reaching publication, and towards successfully marketing your work once it's out in the marketplace, competing with all those other books with their own platforms. Getting there is a tremendous amount of work, but just imagine how proud your foster monkey parents will be when you get there.

How To Get A Second Chance For A Published Blog Post Title

There are a lot of factors that go into creating a great blog post that people love, but more importantly, post that people find. Much of the material on Marketing Tips For Authors deals with ways to drive traffic to your sites, and ultimately to your book. One factor that I want to discuss with you today is the blog post title. Today, I am not going to deal with how to create a great title. There is ample info on that topic online now (though I am sure I will add my two cents to the body of knowledge sometime). Rather, I want to discuss how you can get a "second chance" at creating blog titles that may out-pull traffic compared to the original title you chose when you published the post.

There are some tried and true title formats that have proven to be winners that you can use:

1. Lists- People love lists. Read the magazine covers nect time you are in the grocery store and you will see that they do the same thing. Here are some "list-title" examples: 3 Ways To Use Scarcity To Sell Books or 8 Tips on Creating An Army Of People To Market Your Book.
   
   
2. Questions/How-To's- Having a post title ask a question or pose a "How-To" title can also be a great way to draw traffic to your post. If you hit on the right one--the one where the answer is exactly what the reader is trying to find a solution for, then you have a winner. Here are some "question-title" examples: How To Link Your Book's Cover Pic To Your Shopping Cart and How should YOU market?- by Jeremy Robinson.
   
   
3. Name Dropping- In the last example, I use a title with one of the top thriller authors, Jeremy Robinson, in the title. No doubt it drew more traffic that had I not used his name in the title. Consider these titles as well: Create Relationships On The Internet With Key Websites- John Kremer and Tips For Using Twitter: Penny Sansevieri.
   

Now, this is a small list of items that make for great titles, but it's enough for my point today. Suppose you create a blog title and publish your post. For whatever reason, you are not getting the hits to your article that you normally get. After some initial investigation, you determine that your title really stinks. And if you have a smelly title attached to a stellar article, chances are that you will miss the chance to get that article in front of many people. With all the info flying through the net and via e-mails, people do judge a post by its title. What can you do? Here are some ideas on how you can get a "second chance" with your blog post title.

1. Change the actual title- I hesitate to bring this up here, because I am not going into my personal ideas on when it's good and when it's not good to change your actual title post. However, it is a possible solution to having a sub par title to begin with. Before opting for this strategy, do your research.
   
   
2. Use Twitter, Facebook and other social sites for new titles- This is actually one of my favorites. It's clean, easy and involves no messing with your actual post. It works by simply sending out various new titles/descriptions for your posts and seeing which draws the biggest crowd. Does, "6 Ways To Triple Your Blog Traffic Overnight" do the trick or does "How To Fix Low-Traffic Generating Posts?" By using these variations, and others, to your social media network, you can get a feel for what is actually putting the finger on the pulse of readers. A poor title does not have to be the end of the post's life.
   
   
3. Rewrite a similar post with a new title- If you have been blogging for a while, then you know that you never speak just once on a topic. Sometimes you can take a new slant on an old post and tie it up with a new title. You may have a chance to guest contribute on another blog with the topic. When you do, you have a chance to re-evaluate the title and give it one with fresh eyes.
   

Think about your title before you slap it on a post. It's much too important a factor to add a title with no thought. But if you find yourself wishing you had gone with a new title, or just wondering if another one would have been better, don't lose heart. There are some simple things you can do which gives you a "second change" at creating a great blog post title.

Tony Eldidge

Important Accessibility Announcement

Many of you know that I have been battling technology. The hubris created from my creative and seemingly successful attempts at finding frugal ways to keep my computer running proved this morning to be ill placed. I humbly admit defeat.

This morning, the battery was drained and my computer was not even taking in power. I officially called its time of death at 8:32 am Friday, June 26.

To you, my readers and video tips subscribers, I humbly ask for your patience as I work on a new, permanent solution. Give me a few days, and we will be back to sharing great tips, business as usual.

I appreciate each reader and supporter of this blog. You have taken me on a wonderful ride so far, and I look forward to this being a momentary bump in the road on a longer, much more scenic journey together.

Have a great weekend.

Tony Eldridge

The Ultimate Business Card

If you are a sales professional or work in a business where you rely on people to choose you over others to perform a service, then you know how important it is to establish yourself as an expert in your field. When consumers or companies are looking to part with their hard-earned and increasingly more scarce dollars, you have to be the one to show them how choosing you is a better investment than by choosing your competition. This post will show you how to create the ultimate business card that will cause you to stand apart from your competition. And if you are an author, you already have this business card. To you, it's my hope that this post will show you ways to effectively use it to find more readers for your book.

If you are a chiropractor, then you need to be able to set yourself apart from other chiropractors practicing in your area. If you are a mortgage loan officer, then you need to be able to communicate to home buyers why coming to you will be in their best interest. In fact, you can look at any profession and the same holds true. You are competing with others for their business.

One of the strongest characteristics you can develop to draw people to you is to instill in them your credentials as an expert in your field. No, strike that--not just any expert, but THE expert that stands heads and shoulders above all the experts doing what you do. Consider these factors for communicating expertise:

1. Experience- You can look at your experience, but so can your competition. In reality, there comes a point when having more years experience pays little dividends. What's the difference between twenty years as a trial lawyer and thirty years as a trial lawyer? I'd say it's a lot more to the thirty year veteran than it is for the potential client seeking a trial lawyer.
   
   
2. Celebrity- For good or bad, celebrity status confers an aura of expertise like very little else. Who are the greatest writers in the world? The most famous ones, right? Now, we know that's not the case. Some of the best writers may not have the same exposure and following as the perennial NY Times best sellers, but try to argue that with the millions of readers and the professionals making a living off of the book sales from the best selling writers. Do celebrity mothers know more about child rearing than many family psychologists? In the eyes of the millions of people who buy their child rearing book, yes. And arguing the point is of little consequences in the long run... the celebrity author will still sell more books than most capable, educated professionals in the field of child rearing.
   
   
3. Validating Credentials- Another factor for communicating expertise is having credentials tell the world that you are an expert. That's what BA/BS, MA, MD, and PhDs do. That framed certificate hanging on your wall shouts of your expertise. The problem is, that if most of your competition has the same credentials, then there is little that separates you from them in the eyes of the prospective client.
   

There are many other factors that communicate expertise, but these are three of the biggest. As you survey your competitive landscape, one marketing tool that can help you stand out from your competition is by becoming a published author. Having a book with your name, photo, and bio on the cover can propel you into the stratosphere of expertise status compared to your competition. Think about it... if you need an investment specialist, would you rather have one with the cutest commercials or the one who wrote the book on investing? That's why I say that authoring a book gives you the ultimate business card. For the non-authors who are out there, I can hear the groans now. "Me? Write a book? You gotta' be kidding! I could never do that!" Well, the truth is, "Yes you can." With the right coach, you will see that you already possess the knowledge to make this a reality quicker than you may believe possible. I know. I have informally helped professionals do just that. The purpose of this post is not to sell you anything, but rather to help you see that you can roll up your experience into a book that instills the instant celebrity status that comes with being an author. Your book can be the most vocal credential you have in your marketing arsenal.

If you are an author, then you can use the power of your ultimate business card, your book, to find those marketing opportunities to expand your influence through speaking engagements, guest writing assignments, and providing "how-to" advice to the millions out there who are craving help and information that a publish author can deliver. As an author, you are in a relatively small percentage of humans who have done what the vast majority think they could never do. Handled wisely, you have some amazing marketing capital already in your possession. Don't be afraid to use it.

Tony Eldridge

Marketing your Book Across the Social Web - Angela Connor

I am thrilled to introduce you to this week's guest blogger. I met Angela Connor through a friend and colleague. She is the author of "18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide to Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online" and the creator of a great online blog entitled, "Online Community Strategist." Today, Angela will speak to us about how to use the social web to market your book.

Before we get to Angela's post, I have a quick announcement. Chapter 8 of The Samson Effect has been released this week. If you haven't started the action/adventure book that NY Times best selling author Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure," you can start right at Chapter 1 by visiting the Table of Contents.

Now, on to Angela's post.


Marketing your Book Across the Social Web
By Angela Connor

As a new author, I am absorbing all of the information I can find about book marketing. Some methods seem tried and true, and others hit or miss, but much of what I am coming across doesn't seem to incorporate the advantages of the web, particularly the social web.

I will tell you right now that I am not averse to trying the unconventional when it comes to spreading the word and generating buzz about my book: "18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide to Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online". In fact, my approach has been anything but conventional. I have found that my social networks are a lifeline, and the connections made well before I was in the position to offer a product of this magnitude matter a great deal. The trusted relationships and networks built before your book is published can and will serve you in many ways. It just takes a bit of creativity and commitment to going beyond the obvious.

If you think about it, social networking is about sharing, and we all want people to share information about us and most importantly our books. And with all of the social platforms available, we must find ways to tailor our message to fit as many as possible. So without further adieu, here are a few ideas you might want to consider to put your book marketing into overdrive and jumpstart your quest to build a presence across the social web. All it requires is an open mind and willingness to take action.

Turn your media kit into a slideshow

I am a big fan of SlideShare. It suddenly occurred to me one day as I was uploading a presentation that I could easily upload other content. With that in mind, I created a media kit and posted it on SlideShare. It makes your information immediately available for sharing, embedding on blogs and provides a URL you can share with anyone interested. As of this writing, my media kit slideshow has been viewed 418 times and saved as a favorite three times. You can read more about the benefits of SlideShare in this post on my blog.

Write a guest post on an interesting blog

That is exactly what I'm doing here. It is always a good idea to introduce yourself and your book to a new audience. Cathy Stucker has created a business matching up bloggers with guest bloggers with BloggerLinkUp. I contacted Cathy for this post and asked her why she created the service. "I always see more site visitors, more subscribers and more sales when I actively place my content on other people's sites. The problem has always been finding the sites that not only have the right audience, but are open to receiving submissions. That is why I created BloggerLinkUp.com--to make that process easier for everyone." I have made one connection with BloggerLinkUp so far and would encourage you to give it a try.

Sponsor an event

Sponsorships are not only for corporations with deep pockets. Look for conferences coming to your area, especially those related to any aspects of social media and become a sponsor. You'd be surprised at the cost of some of the lower tier sponsorships. I was recently a sponsor for WordCampRDU, (a popular conference for bloggers who use Wordpress) and that gave me the opportunity to place postcards promoting my book into 100 gift bags and provide a few books as giveaways, all for the $75.

These are just a few ideas to get you going. I have at least ten more but Tony welcomed me as a guest here on his blog and I don't want to overstay my welcome. So, I will leave you with this: If you have not yet built much of a social media presence, it's never too late to start. If you have an idea, run with it. Be like Nike, and just do it. Who cares if it's never been done. That's all the more reason to jump in head-first. I may be new to book marketing but I am in no way intimidated. I bring a new perspective to the craft and I will try every avenue available to me and then some. Won't you join me?

Angela Connor is the author of 18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online. She is a multimedia journalist and community manager and writes the highly read blog, "Online Community Strategist." You can find Angela on Twitter as @communitygirl, and contact her via e-mail at Angela-at-AngelaConnor-dot-com.

5 Ways To Take Your Marketing To The Next Level With A Continuity Program

Book marketing is simply the activities we do to help spread the word about our book. Sometimes we do that through a direct message that says, "Read my book." This is what book reviews, advertisements, and visiting book clubs are all about. But as we have also seen, sometimes marketing our books includes doing things that increases our exposure in other ways in order to find potential readers. This is what we do when we blog, give speeches on topics other than our book, and when we develop an expertise to share with others.

Another thing that we can do to help us market our book is to think outside the box by creating a continuity program. What is a continuity program? It's a series of messages that we offer our subscribers. Most often, it's centered on a theme where our subscribers can learn a specific skill. For example, we may have a 10 week course on how to create compelling characters. We advertise the course and when subscribers sign up, they receive each course via e-mail. You can choose the frequency they receive the e-mails--once a week, every two weeks, once a month--what ever works for you.

Again, the purpose of offering a continuity program is to find new people who we can market our books to. By pre-writing the messages in the continuity program, we can set it up to send the messages to our subscribers automatically when they sign up. We can then set it up to deliver subsequent messages automatically without ever having to do anything else ourselves.

In order to deliver the continuity program, we need to sign up for an auto responder. There are many available to us and a simple search will turn up many to choose for. I use 1 Shopping Cart, which offers an auto responder only option, though there are many others to consider as well.

Now, once you decide to create a continuity program, you need to determine what kind information you are going to offer. In order for your continuity program to be effective in drawing the attention of a prospective subscriber, you need to offer something that is useful, valuable, and of high quality. This is the trade off that you offer in exchange for someone's contact information. With that in mind, here are some ideas for you to consider in your continuity offer:

1. How-To Write Fiction- If you write novels, you can share your knowledge with perspective novelist by running a series on creating characters, scenes, tension, point-of-view, etc.
   
   
2. How-To Taken From Your Nonfiction Book- Did you write a nonfiction book? Look to it for information on creating your continuity program. If you wrote a book on sales, create an program that teaches lessons on selling. Did you write a weight loss book? Why not create a 7 week auto responder series to help your subscribers lose 20 pounds in 7 weeks? This is a great way to build credibility for your book.
   
   
3. How-To Publish Your Book- As a published author, you possess specialized knowledge that others are searching for. You can capitalize with a continuity program that includes lessons like how to find an agent, editor, or publisher. You can discuss the different types of book editing, how to write a query letter, how to develop an elevator pitch and how to get the most from a conference.
   
   
4. How-Two Be Web Savvy- Have you created a great blog or have you mastered using social networking sites in marketing your book? If so, you can create a continuity program that shares this knowledge with authors who are looking for it.
   
   
5. Deliver A Resource Library- Continuity programs don't have to always be "How-To" in nature. Maybe you have resources you can deliver to people each week. For example, you can have a 4 week series where you send out a list of small publishers, agents looking for new authors, legitimate book editing services, and a list of book marketing resources.
   

A continuity program can be as diverse as you want it to be. Remember, to be successful and to attract the most subscribers, you need to offer timely, relevant, and quality information. Do this, and you will be rewarded with new people who will ultimately learn about your book.

Tony Eldridge

What You Should Know About Web Design for Books- Yael Miller

We have a marketing treat to end the week with today. Yael Miller of MillerMosaicLLC.com, has agreed to share her professional expertise with my readers on web design. Everyone knows the importance of having a web presence, but not everyone has the knowledge of how to do this. Yael's advice is not just good, it's golden. She discusses things that will make the difference between success and failure when it comes to promoting your book via the web. It's my pleasure to introduce you to this web expert.


What You Should Know About Web Design for Books
By Yael Miller


1. Link to where your book is for sale. Here are some of the things that you can choose from:

• Make a prominent BUY button
• Put an Amazon widget in the sidebar
• Put a buy page in the navigation bar
• Put a link in the footer
• Put a link in every page

You may snicker at this advice, thinking that it's obvious. But trust me, people can get so consumed by the website design itself that they forget the very important fact that they are actually SELLING something.

Someone shared with me a link to a reportedly gorgeously illustrated children's book, so I checked out the site. And, yes, the book was gorgeously illustrated and the story looked interesting. But I couldn't find a way to buy the book!

I went through page after page and I still couldn't find a way to buy the book. I then checked on Amazon, but no luck there either. I contacted the writer/illustrator/web designer and he sheepishly fixed this problem.

2. Remember, you're trying to sell a book to people who have spent probably hundreds and hundreds of hours reading. And, whether these people know it, their minds have become wired for book reading.

A person reading a book starts at the left (assuming an English reader) and reads the line. The reader knows it's the end of the line when the book binding is reached, and then the eye goes to the far left of the next line, etc. When designing a website, it's important to take this book reading system into account.

A friend of mine recently redesigned his web site. His content was in the middle surrounded on both sides by blank space. Normally, I have no problem with this format. However, the text was in the middle of a single color background for the whole page.

Because everything was the same color my book-reading-wired brain read this as one unit. Therefore, I started on the far left, my eyes encountered blank space, continued through text, then encountered more blank space. My brain decided I was missing text and I got confused.

I contacted my friend about my problem, and he changed the text column background to a slightly different color than the surrounding blank space. Now my book-reading-wired brain only read the text as a unit and understood that the change of color was like a book binding – the signal of the end of a line of text.

3. As book readers, our brains work as "see text, read text." This becomes a problem with a three-column web design where all three columns have text and are basically the same size column. The eyes start wandering around the page doing "see text, read text" and the brain gets confused.

Don't use a web design where you put a far left column before your main content. As English readers we automatically read the left column first, thinking it's the most important.

I use a web design where the main content begins on the left and there is a sidebar on the right. The size ratio is 2:1. Plus I don't really have text in the sidebar. In the sidebar is where I put a blue-colored email optin box, an Amazon widget, and pictorial representatives of where to contact me.

A book reader sees the pictures and color and automatically files these as "pictures that I can get to after I read." The web design I use does not fill the whole screen – there's white space around the content. See my site http://www.millermosaicllc.com.

For an example of a web design that fills up the whole screen and yet enables a reader to easily read long articles, check out http://www.smashingmagazine.com, a free online design magazine with a site that is not in a magazine format. Instead, the far left main column is where the long article lives. The much smaller right column is where there are ads, recommended links, etc.

When designing a website for a book, it's important to always remember that book readers with book-reading-wired brains are your audience. Think about how the site reads to a book reader. Will the web design confuse the reader's brain? Is it clear what you want your visitor to read first?

And don't forget you want site visitors to buy your book. So make sure it's easy to do this!

Yael K. Miller (@MillerMosaicLLC on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic LLC and believes that a marketing-driven website is the foundation for all social media marketing.








  













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Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect, an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests. His new novel, The Lottery Ticket, was just recently released on Kindle.

100th Post and Free Marketing Videos

It's hard to believe that I started the Marketing Tips for Authors blog on February 17th of this year. What's even more amazing is that today's post is a milestone. This is the 100th post of the blog. It's only fitting that I take a few moments to thank you for helping to make this a successful, growing blog. Your comments, readership, submissions and your willingness to spread the word about this blog has turned it into one of the best things I have ever done. My heartfelt thanks to you for it all.

After you finish reading this milestone post, why not sign up for my free video marketing tips for author and start to receive weekly videos that takes you beyond this blog? This week's tip will introduce you to a wonderful tool that I use to help keep you organize in an amazing way through Google Desktop. If you have not heard of Google Desktop, then you need to watch this short video. Just sign up now and you can watch it in a few minutes. In fact, I will throw in over 45 minutes of free training videos that you can watch now just for signing up. Check out these free videos that you'll receive access to for signing up now:

* Learn to connect your WordPress blog, Blogger blog, or any web site to your book's shopping cart so visitors can purchase your book with a click of a button
* Learn how to create custom title bars on your web page and why that's important for marketing your book
* Learn how to create virtual pages on your Blogger blog
* Learn how to integrate your blog into your current website even if your blog is hosted somewhere else (like Blogger, for example)
* Learn what a favicon is, why it's an important branding technique, and how to create a free one for your website (there are business that will charge you $50, $100, even $150 to do the same thing for you!)
* Learn how to create an Amazon Widget to sell your books directly on your blog, social media page or website

Visit the video sign up page now and start watching in just minutes!

Need a little more nudging to see if this is what really something that can help you? I can do that. Take a look at this free sample video.

Linking Your WordPress Blog (Or Any Website) To Your Shopping Cart

***NOTE*** If you are using Internet Explorer 8, you may have problems viewing the video. If so, please use FireFox or click on this link to access the video directly in Internet Explorer 8 (use above link to see templates and relevant links discussed in the video):

View Video Directly In IE8.

I look forward to having you join the free weekly video newsletter. Thanks for being there for 100 blog posts and I look forward to sharing the 200th blog post with you later this year.

Tony Eldridge

Are You A Features Or A Benefits Marketer?

If you spend much time diving into marketing principles, it won't be long before you will come across the concept of features vs benefits. For the new salesman or marketer, this can be a hard concept to wrap your mind around and to apply consistently to your marketing plan. Why? One reason is that marketers often trick themselves into believing features are actually benefits. Let's take a look at this classic sales and marketing principle of features and benefits, see how we can apply the lessons to our marketing plan, and increase our sales and conversions.

So, what are features and benefits anyway?

Each product or service that you can sell has both features and benefits attached to them. To reach the greatest potential in sales, you must know what the features and benefits are of the items you are selling. More importantly, you must know when to and when not to communicate each one.

A feature is a fact about your product or service. It's the description that you often see on sales literature and product packaging. For example, I did a random internet search for a Tivo to see what was said about it on its sales page (Tivo is a digital recorder that allows you to record television programs without a cassette tape). Here is a sampling of what I found on the BestBuy product page:

• Record shows from 2 basic cable channels, or 1 basic cable and 1 digital cable channel, at once with the built-in dual tuner
  
  
• 80GB hard drive provides up to 80 hours of digital recording time
  
  
• Pause and create instant replays of live TV
  

Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it, especially if you are a tech lover. But take a look at that list again. What you have are a list of features about a cool product. There is not a benefit listed in there at all.

Why is this important to note? Simply because it's not features that sell a product or a service, it's the benefit. Many marketers make the mistake of assuming that the consumer will do the work of translating the features into the benefits. My guess is that you were doing that with the list above.

But when you are the marketer, whether it's with your book or your related services, you can not afford to leave it to the consumer to translate your features into benefits. You must sell them on the benefits yourself. A benefit answers what problem is solved or what need is filled by the product or service.

It's the "So what?" question; the "What does this mean to me?" question that your product or service answers. Look over at the previous list of features and ask yourself what the benefit is that the feature is trying to sell:

• Record shows from 2 basic cable channels, or 1 basic cable and 1 digital cable channel, at once with the built-in dual tuner {Benefit: If you and your wife want to watch different programs that air at the same time, now you can! No more fighting, missed episodes, or bad moods. You can now keep peace and harmony in the family and enjoy both programs together.}
  
  
• 80GB hard drive provides up to 80 hours of digital recording time {Benefit: You don't have to worry about running out of video cassettes just when the season finale of 24 airs and be the only one of your friends who misses how Jack saves the world from annihilation.}
  
  
• Pause and create instant replays of live TV {Benefit: Now if you run to the restroom or into the kitchen to grab some chips, you will never ever have to miss that impossible interception by the rookie safety that your coworkers will be talking about for weeks.}
  

Can you see the difference between the statements of features and benefits? As I said earlier, you were probably translating the features into your own benefit statements above. But it can be a death blow to conversions if you rely on your customers to always do that.

Let's apply this to your book. Will people buy your landscaping book because you discuss how to bring 15 species of trees back from the brink of death or because they can save time and money by saving their tree and not having to go through the ordeal of digging up their old one, spending a small fortune on a new one, and engaging in the back-breaking toil of planting a new one?

Will people buy your murder mystery because it has received 20 five start ratings, been featured in USA Today, and has won 6 awards or because it will suck them into a world that will keep them from being able to put the book down because of the intrigue and compelling characters?

Will people buy your how-to book because of its 42 chapters of tips and instructions, checklist of activities, and real life case studies or because it will take their hand and guide them through the completion of their task so they don't have to have to feel dumb, spend hours looking for the answers they can get now in your book, or spend a fortune to have an expert complete the task for them?  

"So what?"; "What's in it for me?"
 
I am not saying that features don't belong in a marketing communication piece, but I am saying that you need to make sure that your customers can find the answers to the two questions above. If they can't, it doesn't matter how long or impressive your lists of features are, they will move on until they find a product or service that can answer those two questions for them.

If you write your marketing piece from the perspective of the person asking, "So what?; "What's in it for me?", then you will be well on your way of crafting a marketing piece that leaves far less money on the table than would otherwise be left. And that will mean more sales for you, more satisfied customers spreading the word about your book, which means even more sales for you

Tony Eldridge

Online Marketing - Grassroots Visibility by Karen Cioffi

Today's guest post is by Karen Cioffi, co-author of the children's book, Day's End Lullaby. She and her co-author also have a blog called Karen and Robyn - Writing for Children, which shares "writing tips, helpful links, marketing tips, book reviews and other useful information" for authors wanting to write children's books. They also are part of the DKV Writing 4 U team that offers professional writing services on a variety of topics. Today, Karen will be sharing some fundamental marketing tips that she has picked up through her own marketing studies and activities.

Before we jump into her article, I wanted to remind you that chapter 7 of the serial release of The Samson Effect has been released. Guys, this is where the stories gets even better. If you have followed chapter 1 on through this release, then you know why NY Times best selling author Clive Cussler calls The Samson Effect a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." If you have not read it yet, you are in for a heart-pounding ride.

Now, on to Karen's article.


Online Marketing - Grassroots Visibility
By Karen Cioffi
June 16, 2009

I make it a habit to attend as many marketing teleseminars that I can. The last few I attended were about blogging. Listening to the other attendees I realized there are many people out there who need the basics in regard to internet marketing. These attendees were confused and overwhelmed.

Marketing is all around us - on a constant basis. While there are different strategies and tools, the purpose of marketing is to attract potential customers to your services or product. Then through purposeful and persuasive dialogue convince them that purchasing what you are offering is a wise decision.

At the root of any marketing strategy is visibility. Let's look at a couple of ways to obtain that visibility:

1. LEARN! I consider this the foundation of any marketing strategy.

Imagine you're a kid in a toy store where everything is free. Every aisle, every shelf jammed packed with toys and all you have to do is take what you want. Well, consider the internet your marketing toy store, just walk down the aisles and search the shelves for what you want or need.

We live in an unbelievably opportune time to learn about anything and everything without leaving our homes, and usually for free or at a nominal cost. There are so many resources online, such as: articles, blogs, teleseminars, teleclasses, videos, and ebooks. There are even FREE online conferences available. Take advantage of as many of these resources that you can. A teleclass I listen to regularly is Build Your Business Write. And, a fantastic free writers' conference is The Muse Online Writers Conference which is held in October. You should definitely take advantage of this valuable opportunity to learn and network.

2. Begin to create that visibility. I'll break this down into two subcategories:

A: Create a website or at the very least a blog

Okay, this is where you will need to roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty. If you are completely new to all this I recommend starting with a blog. One of the easiest to create and maintain is at Blogger.com. If you get stuck on something it may take a bit of reading and searching their help forum, but there hasn't been a question I had that I couldn't find the answer to. And, it's free!

Tip: Choose a domain name that will still be appropriate as you grow and/or branch out.

If you have the time and don't mind the effort, go for the website; it can grow with you. There are a number of hosting sites that are reasonably priced such as Blue Host (great service support) and Go Daddy.

Wordpress is a free hosting site and site builder, but if you're unfamiliar with it be prepared to do a lot of reading. Also, if you run into problems, there is NO service support, but they do have a forum to post questions.

There are many other sites and building tools available, just do a Goolge search.

If you are completely at a loss here, there are services that can help. Please remember, you don't need a lot of flash to have an effective site, you need valuable content. When looking for a service to help, do a little research and watch prices. I have seen services that charge between $500 and $1250 for websites. A simple Blogger site should be much less.

B: Bring traffic to your site.

1. Write articles for article directories such as Ezine Articles, Associated Content, or Helium. Go to the site, create an account and then submit an article. There are a number of article directories you can use, just do a Google search. Be sure to write something that will be useful to others – if your readers feel your content is valuable they'll take that extra step and click on the link in your resource box.

If you have no idea what to write, there are writing services that offer articles. These services might be listed as ghostwriting and/or blog and article content service. Check out their articles and blogs before hiring them.

Sites such as Twitter and JacketFlap.com offer tools that allow you to have your article titles and descriptions automatically upload into your account linking back to the articles. More visibility with no effort!

2. Post useful articles to your site. Then make sure you ping the posts and promote them on Twitter, Facebook, and any other groups you belong to.

You can also take advantage of PLR - Private Label Rights. These can come in the form of ebooks which you can give away as your own. This is a great way to draw visitors and get them to sign up as subscribers. A word of caution here: be sure to read the ebook before you offer it as a freebie on your site; there may be errors in the content or outdated information that you will need to correct.

3. Visit other bloggers' sites and leave comments. Be sure to actually read the article you're commenting about so you won't be tempted to leave a generic response. If you're comment is interesting or informative, the author or other commenters may click on the link back to your site.

4. Join in on a virtual book tour. If you're not promoting a book, offer your site for authors who are. To offer your site you can post a notice on Twitter, Facebook and other groups you belong to.

5. Ask writers you know to do guest articles for your site.

6. Be sure to join a couple of worthwhile forums and be an active member. This is a great source of networking.

7. Always include your url as part of your signature.

These are some simple ways to bring traffic to your site and gain visibility. To keep your readers coming back you'll need to continue providing useful content. Be sure to have an opt-in box or contact form so your visitors can subscribe to your newsletter or informational emails. Don't feel overwhelmed; take one step at a time. Marketing is simply an on-going journey – just keep putting one foot in front of the other. If you can't afford to take advantage of the online services I mentioned, do take advantage of the free resources right there at your finger tips.

Are You Taking Advantage Of Unplanned Marketing Opportunities?

A marketing plan is a vital part of your success when it comes to promoting your book. It gives you guidance, keeps you moving forward in your promotion activities, and helps you prioritize your time, money and efforts. But sometimes activities come along that can be wonderful marketing opportunities if you have an eye for them. When those opportunities come, are your ready to take advantage of them? Here are some unplanned marketing opportunities to keep your eye out for:

1. Current Events Tie-Ins- One thing you cannot plan for is breaking news. But when breaking news happens and it relates to your book, you need to be ready to jump on it quickly. Remember, breaking news is hot today, gone tomorrow. If you wait too long, you may miss a golden opportunity.
   
   Shortly after The Samson Effect was published, there was a scientific breakthrough in real life that followed the fiction in my book. It had to do with seed viability and ancient archeological excavations. I wrote up a teaser called Fact Vs. Fiction and contacted local gardening groups, nurseries, and gardening radio hosts about this. It was a way that my action/adventure novel found interest in areas I would never had been able to plan in a marketing plan.
   
   
2. Testimonials and Endorsements- It would be nice if we could pre-plan all of our testimonials and endorsements for our book, but these rarely come with our planning. When the time comes and you see these marketing gems, be ready to jump in and promote them. Watch the Amazon.com product page for new reviews. Talk to leaders in your community and businesses. When you hear an endorsement or testimonial, jot it down, check with the source for accuracy and post it on your site an in your newsletter. If it's a high profile endorsement, then a news release may be in order. Where ever they come from, be ready to use them when you see them.
   
   
3. Communicators who love your book- This is one of my personal favorites. Simply, keep your eyes and ears open for people who can communicate with a mass audience who tell you that they loved your book. These people may write company newsletters, community posts, or they may be an officer in a civic organization. You may be surprised at how willing they are to mention your book to their readership/membership if you simply ask.
   
   
4. Become a charity sponsor- If you see that a local charity is raising money, you can easily get involved, and do a good deed, by donating signed copies of your book to them. They can sell these books or raffle them off. This is also a way for you to get press from an organization who is already promoting a fundraiser.
   
   
5. Bring two organizations together over your book- Okay, this is a really cool one that I am in the process of working on at the moment. I have been asked to speak about my book to a very influential local civic organization. At the same time, I am in contact with the largest retailer in the town about carrying my book. This retailer pours millions into the community. If I can bring the retailer together with the civic organization and use a portion of the sales of my book from the retailer as a fundraiser with the civic organization, I will get some powerful press. I will keep you posted on how this one goes.
   

The purpose of this post is to help you start to think outside the box when it comes to marketing your book. Marketing can be as creative as you can make it, and opportunities are out there every day. It takes some practice and determination, but with dedication, you can learn to find some wonderful unplanned opportunities to market your book.

Tony Eldridge

Marketing Tips Around The Net: June 12th

Happy Friday! Mine started off very late. I finished a project at 6:00am this morning and couldn't write my post coherently, so I opted for sleep and an afternoon post for our marketing trip around the net. With fresh eyes, I have some good sites and articles for you to look at this weekend. Also, when you have time this weekend, check out the latest installment of my award winning novel, The Samson Effect, that I am releasing as a serial. If you have not read the previous chapters, the check out the Table of Contents and pick up where you left off, or start at chapter 1. This is the novel that New York Times Best selling author calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure."

Also, check out the current video release on how to add a Feedburner account and e-mail subscriptions to your blog. Remember, the video will be replaced next week, so watch it this weekend before it's gone. If you have not signed up for the free weekly video newsletter, you can do that now and watch the video in the next few minutes.

Now, on to the trip around the net.

1. Attract More Followers With Your Tweets- Kicking off our tour this week is Dana Lynn Smith and her advice on attracting more Twitter followers.

2. Revenue at Craigslist Is Said to Top $100 Million- Brad Stone at the New York Times, writes an article that helps us keep our finger on the pulse of what's happening in the marketing world, specifically, the impact that Craig's List is having on the newspaper revenue. Interesting read.

3. In Passing: Plagiarism and Your Stress Level- Ever had that queasy feeling in your gut that someone may steal your work? Carolyn Howard-Johnson speaks on that topic in this post.

4. 9 Tips For How to Promote Your Book on a Limited Budget- This quick list from Phyllis Zimbler Miller is packed with powerful tips on promoting your book in a way that won't break the bank.

5. Great Links: On Writing and Book Promotion- This week's guest expert on Marketing Tips For Authors, Joanna Penn, posts a resource on her site that is bookmark worthy. You have to see it to believe it-- a ton of resources all in one place.

6. How to Compete with Yourself in the Search Engines and Win- For the book marketer who loves to dive into the deep and techie areas of book marketing, you'll love Stephan Miller's article on Search Engine marketing.

7. Marvelous Marketer: Tracy Marchini (Literary Assistant, Curtis Brown)- Tracy Marchini from Curtis Brown, is interviewed by Market My Words. In the interview, she gives her "top 3 things every author should and must do to promote their book."

8. Getting your book reviewed- Is getting your book reviewed part of your marketing plan? If so, here is a resource from Kate McMillan that may help.

9. What's a book blog tour?- Is a book blog tour part of your marketing plan? If you think it should be, check out this post by Yen.

10. Facebook Frenzy- I am a big fan of Penny Sansevieri's bullet marketing tips. She packs a lot into them. Here is one that you should find very interesting, while teaching you what you can do to help market yourself and your book.

Well, that's it for this week. I'm off to work on my video training series and marketing e-book. I am also planning on a revamp of my blog. I have come across so many resources that need to be linked to it that it's about time for a major make-over. Feel free to shoot me a message if you think of a resource that's not linked to it now needs to be there. With that, I am off to write. I hope you all have a pleasant and productive weekend.

3 Ways To Use Scarcity To Sell Books

Before we get to today's article, I want to remind you that the new free video marketing tip is out. Check your e-mail for the link to the video tip. If you have not signed up for the free weekly video tips, then you can sign up for free at the Video Marketing Tips page. You can even view a sample video before you sign up. This week's video will show you how to add a Feedburner account and e-mail subscriptions to your blog. Not only will Feedburner let you offer e-mail subscriptions, it will also give you basic stats for your readers and allow you to syndicate your blog to other sites.

Now, on to today's post.

Scarcity is a time honored principle in sales and marketing. Whether artificial or natural, it can be a great way to move products, including books. Scarcity is simply making a limited number of items available for sell, usually accompanied by a spacial rate for purchase. Scarcity can be natural: You order too many copies of your book and you need to move them, often at a discounted price to entice people to buy. Scarcity can also be artificial: Perhaps the best known artificial scarcity technique is the limited time sale. Your book is not limited by quantity available, but rather by time allotted to purchase it at a special price.

With this in mind, here are some suggestions on how you can use the principle of scarcity to move your books.

1. The two day sale. Actually, you can make this sale as long or short as you like. In my previous professional like, we ran scheduled sales like clockwork. We could predict with relative accuracy how much revenue each sale would produce. The delicate balance you need to strike if you want to run regular sales is running them close enough to capture revenue juice but separated enough not to make them so predictable that a sales announcement has no effect on buyers when they get the message. If people get your sales literature about a sale and there is no urgency to act, then you may be spacing your sales too close together. Of course, there could be another reason (ie, the price is not sufficiently low enough to cause someone to act). One thing we did when we ran sales is to add a countdown timer on the sales page. This seemed to boost sales enough to justify making the countdown a permanent thing on our sales page. Have you thought about running a two day sale for your books? If not, try it. Give yourself one to two weeks to promote the sale and build buzz. You may be surprised at how many books you sale.
   
   
2. Have a fire sale. People love a bargain. I just read a sales letter where the owner of a company ran an overstock sale. "My mistake is your gain" the sales piece claimed. He said that he produced too many CDs and was letting the extra inventory go at a reduce rate. The interesting thing behind this is that the owner may have produced too many CDs by accident or by design, to prepare for a fire sale. Either way, the sales message is the same. "I have too many CDs and you can get a good deal at my expense." You can have a fire sale too. How many times have you ordered books for a series of signings only to have extra copies left over? If so, runs a fire sale. The key is to communicate that you have extra copies of your book that you will sell at a special price, and once the extra copies are sold, the book price returns to normal. This is a great way to communicate scarcity.
   
   
3. Run a "Make Room For Mother-In-Law" sale. This is a version that combines both above sales. Authors are notorious at ordering cases of books to sale. How many times have you heard the story about the author with a garage full of book boxes? If you store your books in the guest bedroom, the why not let your prospects know that your mother-in-law is visiting soon and you have two weeks to move the books from the guest bedroom to make room for her? The sale will run until she arrives or until the books are sold out. This takes advantage of both limited time and quantity in the same sale.
   

Use your imagination and you can come up with your own creative scarcity marketing activities. As you try this technique, keep these suggestions in mind:

• Communicate the sale early to build buzz
  
• Communicate before the sale is over to let people know they only have a short time left to act before the sale is over
  
• Test your offer, both in frequency and price, to find your scarcity sweet spot
  
• When you are done, compare your sales to the sales of other specials you may have run. Use the results to make the next sale better.
  

I bet that if you start to experiment with the principle of scarcity with your book, you will be hooked. The better you get at implementing this principle, the more books you will find yourself selling.

Tony Eldridge

7 Book Marketing Lessons from Virgin's Richard Branson- By Joanna Penn

Today, we have Joanna Penn, author and book marketer, who will share some marketing insights from Richard Branson and his book. Joanna is the creator of the blog, The Creative Penn, and author of Pentecost. A Thriller. I met Joanna on Twitter and have quickly become a fan of her writings and marketing advice. My thanks goes to her for her willingness to share her insights with my readers.

Just a quick announcement before her post: The next chapter in the serial release of The Samson Effect, Chapter 6, is out. The suspense ratchets up even more. This is the action/adventure novel that New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." If you haven't started reading The Samson Effect yet, don't worry! You can start now at Chapter 1 or visit the Table of Contents to pick up where you left off. You can even read the announcement about a major Hollywood producer acquiring the film rights for the novel.

Now, on to Joanna's post...

7 Book Marketing Lessons from Virgin's Richard Branson
By Joanna Penn

Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group of companies, is considered to be one of the best entrepreneurial marketers in the world. So what does he have to teach authors about book marketing? These points are roughly drawn from Branson's book "Screw It: Let's Do It".

1. Challenge Yourself. Many authors shrink at the thought of marketing and promotion, preferring to stay out of the limelight. But marketing is just another skill, another tool in your expanding toolkit. The reality is that authors need to be able to market themselves these days, even if they are published traditionally. If you want people to read your book, they need to know it is available. So challenge yourself, get out of your comfort zone. Get marketing!

2. Be Bold. There are no rules. There are plenty of ideas for book promotion – you will find many on this blog. But remember, there are no rules. You can do anything you like to market your book. One of Richard's biggest stunts was hot air-ballooning across the Atlantic. That was a bold and dangerous move and got him an extraordinary amount of press. You don't need to go that far, but publicity stunts are often far more effective than a mere press release. What could you do to attract media attention that ties into your book?

3. Use word of mouth. Virgin uses word of mouth marketing and promotion far more than it uses advertising, and that is for a company with a huge budget. For authors, this is now an achievable task from your own study. Sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as the blogosphere will spread news by word of mouth much quicker than ever before. Build your presence there and see the results.

4. Understand and use brand recognition. The Virgin brand has been built into an entity that can now sell anything. People trust the brand. It means honesty and low cost for the consumer. You need a brand as an author. It is a lifetime role you have taken on. You want people to hear your name and know what you offer. People should want to come back to your website because they know what they are getting. You build a brand by deciding what you want to be known for, and consistently delivering on that.

5. Chase your dreams but live in the real world. Marketing is not a magic potion that will make your book a bestseller. We all dream of achieving the success of JK Rowling, but that dream is unlikely. The real world is about making individual readers happy. Sometimes you will have successes, and other times you will fail. But writing is a journey. This one book is just a goal achieved along the way. There will be other books, other marketing campaigns, other successes. Expect success, but if it doesn't come immediately, keep trying.

6. Just do it and have fun! Richard Branson is a billionaire but he didn't start that way! His mantra is "Have fun, work hard and money will come. When it's not fun, move on." Every project he takes on is fun for him, as well as hard work. Authors need to have the same attitude towards book marketing. Just do it, and once you get into it, it can be very fun! Enjoy yourself and you won't find it hard to do. If it's not fun, pay someone else to do it for you!

7. Take time off. Writing a book is a long project, especially as most authors have a 'normal' job and family life to live at the same time. When the book is written, you have a sales and marketing mountain to climb. No wonder authors shrink from this! Richard Branson runs a number of global companies with thousands of employees. Yet he still manages to spend a lot of time on his private island in the Caribbean. As an author, it is unlikely you have an island to retreat to – but make sure you take time off from marketing, or even writing. Get some space and some rest. Fill up your soul, and then return with vigour and enthusiasm!

--------

Joanna Penn is an author, blogger, speaker and business consultant based in Australia (although she's British!). She always dreamed of writing her own books, and spent many years thinking about it before she actually took the plunge. You can find her on her blog, The Creative Penn, and you can read her first novel, a Kindle best seller, Pentecost. A Thriller.








--------
I recently became an affiliate of Joanna after seeing her book marketing expertise first hand. I have recommended her blog and her products long before I became an affiliate. In fact, I am excited to join my reputation with hers as I become an affiliate for her products. For some of the best book marketing training you can get, check out her items below:

  --------  Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect, an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests.

Amazon Connect Becomes Author Central

Here's a quick announcement before we get to today's post. The next chapter in the serial release of The Samson Effect, Chapter 6, is out. The suspense ratchets up even more. This is the action/adventure novel that New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." If you haven't started reading The Samson Effect yet, don't worry! You can start now at Chapter 1 or visit the Table of Contents to pick up where you left off. You can even read the announcement about a major Hollywood producer acquiring the film rights for the novel.

Now, on to today's post...

On February 26, 2009, I wrote a blog post entitled, "Create An Amazon Connect Account." It is my belief that setting up an Amazon Connect account is one of the best things an author can do to help promote his or her book. Well, a week or so ago, I found that Amazon.com added a page to their site called Author Central. After finally doing my research, I found that Amazon.com has rolled out a new author page that all Amazon Connect accounts have been migrated to.

Here is the quote I found on their announcement page for the new Author Central:

{Start Quote}
Introducing Author Central

May 26 Update: Looking for AmazonConnect? We're excited to announce that the author blog feature previously offered via AmazonConnect is now part of the brand-new Author Central.

All existing Connect users should proceed to Author Central and use your AmazonConnect user name and password to check out all the new features and update their blogs. If you are trying to sign up for AmazonConnect, you can create an account with Author Central and start blogging from there.

Here are some highlights of Author Central:

--Vastly simplified and streamlined process for updating your bibliography
--Easy uploading of your bio and an image of yourself for use on your Author Page
--Blog posts will now appear on your Author Page
--Get help enrolling your books in programs like Search Inside the Book and Kindle

Please see below for answers to frequently asked questions about your blog and Author Central. Otherwise, click here or the button on the right to start using Author Central now."
{End Quote}

I visited my page and it looks like that my blog feed that I set up in Author Connect has migrated over to the new page. Based on my initial peek at this new page, it seems that Amazon has greatly improved the user friendly nature of their author pages. They also made updating/adding your bibliography and bio so much easier.

A new feature (to me) that looks interesting is a new Customer Discussion that allows a forum for customers to communicate with the author right on the page. Having the ability to communicate with book buyers is an author/marketer's dream come true.

Another thing that I like with the new Author Central page (sort of) is the more user friendly URL. My new Author Page URL is http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BLN85U. My old Amazon Connect URL was a mile-long string of symbols and letters:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A32BFD0KWT6WHC/ref=cm_blog_pdp

This is an improvement, but Amazon could have come up with a much better URL convention if they wanted authors to prolifically use this in their own marketing. Something like http://www.amazon.com/author/TonyEldridge would have been nice. Never fear, you can still follow my April 2nd, 2009 blog tip on making ugly URLs pretty with a post entitled, "Increase Conversions With Pleasant Looking Redirects."

If you read my Amazon Connect post, you may remember this quote:

Now, the downside. The interface and navigation is awful. No, let me rephrase this. The interface and navigation is AWFUL!!!!! I really expected much more from a company like Amazon.com, but technically, this is still a new, developing service. So, what do I mean about awful? There is no easy link to your profile page and navigating to the Amazon Connect program is often like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I have to admit that Amazon.com seems to have taken a step in the right direction with the roll out of the new Author Central page. It does seem to be much more user friendly, which is always a good thing if they want authors to adopt the Author Central pages en masse.

One thing I do not like with this change from Amazon Connect to the new Author Page is that my blog feed for Marketing Tips For Authors used to appear on my Amazon.com book page (for The Samson Effect). It no longer does; instead it appears on the new Author Central page. This takes a customer looking at my book an extra step by having to choosing to visit my Author Central page if they are to see that I have a blog and what it says.

All in all, the new Author Central page on Amazon.com seems to be a move in the right direction. I would still strongly urge all authors with a book listed on Amazon.com to set up a Author Central page and start to fill it out. After all, it's hard to beat a free page on the largest bookstore on the planet, isn't it?

Tony Eldridge

Marketing Tips Around The Net: June 5th

I love Fridays! It's a time for family and fun as we head into the weekend. In fact, I am about to take my three year old twin boys swimming. But Fridays also mean that we are going to take a quick trip around the net to look at some articles that can help us with our book marketing.

Before we get to that, let me take this opportunity to suggest an activity for your downtime. I am releasing my award winning action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, as a serial for you to read at no cost. NY Times Best seller Clive Cussler calls it a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." I released chapter 5 this week and chapter 6 is just a few days away. But if you need to, you can start at chapter 1 and catch up (FYI... it'll be a challenge not to read all 5 chapters at one sitting). While you're on the site, check out how The Samson Effect was acquired by a major Hollywood producer as it works its way to the silver screen.

Now, on to our marketing tour around the net.


1. Preparing to launch an online information product: Day 1 of the pre-launch- Leading us off this week is an exciting opportunity for any book marketer. Phyllis Zimbler Miller is launching a new subscription based product and she is taking us all on a journey to show just how she is marketing this new service. First-hand, real time training has never been so good.

2. Facebook: the gateway drug to social media, & other thoughts on SOCIAL networks- Packed with Nielsen numbers, Susan Getgood looks at Facebook and why it fits in with her number one social media marketing rule: be where your customers are.

3. Why Write Books?- Elisabeth Eaves of Forbes discusses BookExpo America and how it reflects on the industry as a while.

4. In Search Of Excellence – The New Search Engine Wars- I've included this post by Mitch Joel for those who like to keep up with the techie part of book marketing. There is little doubt that search engines play a crucial part of book marketing and this post gives you some insight on the war for dominance in the search engine world.

5. The Seven Habits of the 'Just Good Enough' Marketer- Mark Ivey writes a blog post may make some die-hard perfectionists cringe but non-the-less, is one that all bloggers would do good to peek at.

6. Why didn't GM use "Harry Potter Marketing"?- John Caddell talks branding and though it does not directly relate to book marketing, it can help us to have insight on an important element in book marketing.

7. Market Your Expertise Through Teleseminars- Kathleen Gage writes a guest post on Dana Lynn Smith's blog about marketing via teleseminars.

8. The State of The Industry: As Evidenced by Book Expo America- Marketing expert Carolyn Howard-Johnson looks back at Book Expo America and gives her take on what it means to the industry.

9. Skype: 5 Reasons Authors Need to Use It- Joanna Penn introduces us to a popular instant message tool and why authors need to be using it.

10. 7 Ways to Drive Traffic to your Website- Thaidoweb discusses some tried and true ways to drive traffic to your site.

That's it for this trip around the net. Enjoy the weekend and if you have written a post that would make a great tip for my Friday's trip around the net, then let me know. You may just be featured in next week's Marketing Tips Around The Net.

Tony Eldridge

6 Promotional Item Ideas For Your Book

Promotional items and giveaways are great ways to promote your book. If you can combine utility and cost effectiveness, you have a winner. That's one of the reasons why bookmarks are such a great and popular giveaway for authors. A bookmark has all of your books marketing info printed in color right on it: Your name, book title, pic of your cover, a blurb, and contact/purchase info. If you search the internet, you can find deals that make bookmarks very cost effective.

But let's go beyond bookmarks and look at some other promotional items you can use. Some of these things may be suitable to give out to everyone, others items only to people who purchase your book. Still others items may be suitable for special events like a singing. Just search the net for the best deal and then see if these items fit into your marketing budget.

1. Pens with your book info printed on them. What a neat idea to sign books and then give the pen you signed it with away to the purchaser. Pens are utilitarian and people tend to keep them. Every time they use the pen, they will see your book info on it. It can make a great prompt for someone to talk about your book to others.
   
2. T-shirts with your book title printed on it. If you are looking for a popular, yet relatively inexpensive door prize, it's hard to beat a T-shirt. If you take your time to design a quality one, you may have yourself a walking billboard for your book for years to come.
   
3. Trade show tote bags. Tote bags are popular items that you can get for under a $1.00. You can have your book title printed on the side of the bag. If you are at an event with many authors, chances are, people will appreciate a bag to hold their books in. How cool would it be to see walking billboards with your book title on it at an event like this.
   
4. Stadium cups with your book info printed on them. These stadium cups are the 22 oz plastic cups that you get when you go to a sporting event. Again, you combine utilitarian and economy for an item that people will use time after time, and each time, they will see your book info.
   
5. Simple paper fan on a Popsicle stick. These are the fans that people use to wave back and forth by their face to stay cool. You can find companies to print these up for you in color with your book title and contact info on them. These items have a short utilitarian life; they are usually discarded when the temperature get comfortable, but when they are needed, they can be the most popular item.
   
6. Custom printed M&Ms. Who doesn't like chocolate? Now you can order custom printed M&Ms directly from the company that makes the popular candy. You will be limited on what you can have printed, for obvious reasons, but a little creativity can go a long way. Fortunately for me, Samson Effect fits perfectly on these little treats. Recently, they even added the option to print a grey scale photo on the M&M. For more information, visit the My M&Ms's website.
   

There are a lot more, creative things out there for you to look at from balloons to party favors. With a little creativity combined with some time on your favorite search engine, you will find a wealth of ideas on how you can use promotional items to promote your book.

Tony Eldridge

Slang: The People's Poetry- Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Carolyn Howard-Johnson has reviewed Slang: The People's Poetry (Oxford University Press) by Michael Adams. In today's blog post, she graciously agrees to share the review with my readers.

Before we get to the review, I wanted to mention that my new video marketing tip is out for my newsletter subscribers. This week's video will look at a few Twitter tools that can help make your life much easier. Did you ever want to know how to post your tweets to your blog, or to automatically send a tweet to your followers with your new blog topic? This video will show you how. If you have not signed up for my free weekly video tips, you can sign up now, watch this week's video tip, and have instant access to over 45 minutes of free video training.

Now, on to Carolyn Howard-Johnson's review of Slang.

Slang
Subtitle: The People's Poetry
By Michael Adams
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195314632, 2009
Nonfiction/ (WritingLanguage)
Contact Reviewer: hojoreviews@aol.com


Academia for the Masses

Equal Mix of Academics, Humor, and Useful Stuff for Writers

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of This Is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, Tracing, a chapbook of poetry and the How To Do It Frugally Series of book for authors.

When I teach my writing students, I urge them to keep reading, keep writing, keep taking classes. Michael Adams has cobbled together a definitive book that appeals to every side of my book-loving nature. A work of nonfiction, it even appeals to my need for entertainment. It is Slang: The People's Poetry published by the Oxford Press.

Adams manages to give readers equal doses of fun and information—information that our formal education in languages (English in particular) may have neglected. As an example, he gives us a veritable list of words we use for getting plastered . . . er snockered. Then he shows us how these words may be onomatopoetic or related to the visual or how they reflect a cultural need to set ourselves apart. Those are hardly things Miss Jones would have discussed in our basic grammar class.

But for fun he'll say things like, "It's hard to decide whether visual hurl is more vivid than audible barf, as the words offend different senses." (Yes, you may be amused that your taste for dry humor develops as you read.)

He can buckle down to business, too. He warns us early on that we are to come away from this book with something more than a guffaw: " . . . it might be wise to distinguish slang even more precisely from jargon, argot, and colloquial use." And that's something, gratefully, he does frequently.

What I'm not crazy about is his tendency to fall back on snooze-producing syntax and Latinate words. He doesn't do it so frequently that casual readers won't enjoy what he has to say but they'll have a better chance of not relegating this book to their "maybe later" pile if they skip the introduction.

Writers, on the other hand, will want to buy and keep this book handy for research. It will be invaluable for producing accurate dialogue. In which decade, as an example, would one have been more likely to use gone Borneo for getting blasted? Writers who pick the wrong one may find their credibility trashed by those hip enough to know.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s first novel, This is the Place, has won eight awards. Her book of creative nonfiction Harkening, won three. A UCLA Writers' Program instructor, she also is the author of another book essential for writers, USA Book News' Best Professional Book of 2004, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. The second in the HowToDoItFrugally series, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success covers writing successful query letters and includes helpful hints from twenty of the nation's top agents. It can be purchased at Amazon. Learn more at her new site http://HowToDoItFrugally.com.