Do-It-Yourself Marketing by Jerry B. Jenkins

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for our guest post for the week. Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to one of the most prolific writers I have met. Jerry Jenkins will be sharing his rich knowledge on Do-It-Yourself Marketing for authors. Jerry has written over 175 books, having sold over 70 million books worldwide, including co-authoring the popular Left Behind series.

I have been way from the computer for a few days, and it looks like my access may be spotty again until next Monday, but I did want to take a few moments before we get to Jerry's post for a couple of quick announcements.

1. If you have not had a chance to sign up for my free Marketing Tips For Authors Video Tips, you can do so now and I will start you off with access to over 45 minutes of Tips when you sign up.

2. I also want to let people who are following the film project of my book, The Samson Effect, know that you can check its IMDb page to keep track of what's going on with it's progress. This is the page that the film producer told me he will update for people to publicly keep track of what's going on with it.

And now, on to Jerry's post...


Do-It-Yourself Marketing
by Jerry B. Jenkins

There are two ways to see your books fly off the shelves: 1—write a book that becomes a phenomenal bestseller, providing your publisher with enough resources to promote and advertise it without limit, or, 2—take advantage of every avenue available to push your own book.

Imagine what might happen if you're successful at number 2. (See number 1 above.)

Believe it or not – and fortunately I know this from personal experience – the books you see heavily advertised and promoted by publishers were big sellers before they qualified for those marketing dollars. Sure, some titles by established authors get more promotion dollars up front, but to justify significant campaigns, a book has to prove to be a big seller first.

Every so-called name author you've heard of (with the exception of people who happen to pastor huge churches or have radio or TV ministries was once where you may be: unknown and unpublished. That you now recognize their names means that somewhere along the line, something went right for them.

Little surprise, if a newcomer's book is going to be heavily promoted, the author is going to do most of the work. If you're not prepared for that, your publisher will be less interested.

So you have a book and a publisher. Now what?

With Twitter, Facebook, and all the other ways to communicate with the masses, it's time to get busy.

A few tips:

Check out www.StartaWildFire.com. Rob Eagar puts out a newsletter, The WildFire Report, that he calls "Book Market News You Can Use." He also provides services for authors, like coaching on how to build your platform, website and social networking advice, as well as services for publishers.

Tyndale House Publishers offers their authors "Top Ways to Be a Super Self-Promoter," which recommends books like:

Author 101 by Rick Frishman and Robyn Freedman Spizman

Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors by Steve Weber

1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer

A Savvy Author's Guide to BOOK Publicity by Lissa Warren

Tyndale also recommends that you be available to your publisher, partnering with them and helping them by providing them with lists of media and personal contacts, writing an opinion editorial on the subject of your book, and giving them with anything else they ask for.

They also urge you to create a relationship with your local bookstore and library, write articles and even create discussion questions based on your book, make contacts with local media, launch a website dedicated to your book, make use of e-newsletters and a blog, urge readers to review your book on Amazon.com and take advantage of Amazon's many tips for writers, develop your speaking ability and make yourself available for such opportunities. They also list tips for how to be a good interview subject for radio, TV, phone, in print, and on web chats.

All publishers urge you create buzz through web campaigns, mass mailings, attending conferences and trade shows, and finding author-centered websites that feature new books.

Find publishers you like on line and ask for their self-promotion hints. You'll be surprised how many will send them, even if you're not one of their authors.

One of the better publications for authors is The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter, which describes itself as "all about successful publishing and powerful promotion." Its editor is Penny C. Sansevieri (penny@amarketingexpert.com).

I found one of their recent issues chocked full of usable stuff on such subjects as:

Their new Author's Edge Book Marketing Program, Branding, Tweeting, Marketing Your Book Event Yourself, Blogging, Penny's blog on The Huffington Post, and much, much more.

These are just a few resources that barely scratch the surface of the plethora of tools available to the enterprising writer. No one knows or cares about your book as much as you do. You owe it to yourself and to your work to take advantage of every avenue to let everyone know about it.



















Jerry B. Jenkins's writing has appeared in Time, Reader's Digest, Parade, Guideposts, and many other periodicals. His 175 published books have sold more than 70 million copies worldwide. He owns the Christian Writers Guild and Jenkins Entertainment, a filmmaking company. He serves as a contributing editor to Writer's Digest.










 -------- 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.