Monthly Archives: September 2013

Sep 15 2013

How to Be a Superhero

Superhero Pic

These people have secret identities.

They do normal activities each day,

But every once in a while duty calls.

That’s when they put on a mask, cape, and suit.

Nobody knows who did all these good deeds.

They didn’t do them for fame or fortune.

They just did what they thought was right to do.

 

Bob saw a clever post that caught his eye.

He read it and enjoyed it. Bob was pleased.

Not a single like or follow. Wowwee!

So Bob liked the post and followed it, too.

Then he reblogged it for many to see.

More likes and follows came to the rescue.

It turned into a nice newbie welcome.

 

Suzy found a book with a huge sales rank.

Apparently, it hadn’t sold lately.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t worth reading.

So she decided to give it a shot.

Suzy thought it was a pretty good read.

She couldn’t think why the sales rank was high.

But she spread the word about the story.

 

One book in the search caught Joe’s interest,

But the poor book had just a single star.

Yet Joe didn’t turn his head in disgust.

He clicked on the link and examined it.

It actually looked just like what he sought.

So Joe gave it a try. He liked it much.

He left it five stars, brought the average up.

 

There are many superheroes out there,

Doing good deeds for strangers secretly.

Let us all give you a round of applause.

It doesn’t just involve blogging and books.

Just lending a helping hand when needed,

Or a random act of kindness. So sweet!

Even spreading smiles merits my handshake.

 

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 15 2013

Target Your Audience

Target Pic

Yeah, I know. As a consumer, the feeling that businesses may be targeting you may not be the most wonderful feeling; and the picture probably doesn’t help with this. Yet the phrase is useful to anyone who is selling a product or service, to remind them of the importance of marketing the product or service to the people who are most likely to want it.

Think of it this way: Businesses are trying to help people discover products and services which may be a good fit for their individual preferences. This is accomplished by marketing toward a specific target audience – perhaps not the friendliest phrase for a specific group of people who share common interests, like dirt bike riders or Trekkies.

Imagine standing outside of a football stadium trying to sell used golf balls to fans who are buying tickets. Sure, some of the football players will be golfers. But don’t you think you’d have better luck selling golf balls at a golf course? Even if you meet a football fan who plays golf, his mind will surely be on football, and he will probably be irritated to have you try to switch his mindset so he can discuss golf business with you right before the big game.

Even if the marketing is free, it still costs time and effort. And there are many more things that one can do to market a product than any human being can do in a single day. So you must choose wisely.

Marketing is much more likely to be effective when it’s geared toward a specific target audience, which is a good fit for the product.

Recall the football fan who might be irritated to discuss golf when his mind is on football. This point is important for customer satisfaction.

Suppose you succeed in selling a product to many people who fall outside of the target audience. These customers are less likely to be pleased with the product, which can affect reviews, referrals, and recommendations – i.e. it can lead to a little negative marketing. These customers don’t understand the nature of the product as well as the target audience, and therefore may not have realistic expectations for what the product should actually do.

As an example, this is often the case with free e-books. Readers outside the genre are tempted to buy the book because it looks like a good deal. Since the e-book is free, they may not feel the need to invest time and effort reading the blurb or checking out the Look Inside. These readers are less likely to know what is typical of the genre. They might also be trying the genre out, only to discover that they really don’t like it. Therefore, these readers from outside the genre are more likely to be disappointed with the book, which could lead to bad reviews.

When the author invests in the time or money to promote the freebie to the specific target audience, then many of the free e-books also go to members of the target audience, which helps to balance the freebies downloaded by other readers.

So if you just market a product to a general audience, thinking that the audience is so large that even a tiny percentage is significant, there may be possible negative effects to take into consideration.

Whenever possible, market the product toward the specific target audience. This can have a big impact on the cost-benefit analysis.

The first step is to identify the specific target audience. Think about who is most likely to use the product. Is there a gender preference? Which age group? What common interests will they share?

The common interests are especially important. Be as specific as possible – e.g. baseball is more specific than sports, and contemporary romance is more precise than romance which isn’t as vague as fiction.

Avoid being hypothetical like, “Chess players might be interested in graphic arts.” They might be, but you’re more likely to reach chess players through their interest in chess, since many won’t be in the market for graphic arts.

The goal isn’t to widen the audience as much as possible. Targeting an audience that is far wider than the people who are most likely to use the product makes marketing less efficient. Many companies, such as small book publishers, achieve success with a narrow audience – such as niche marketing. A very narrow audience can lead to good results if you succeed in reaching a large percentage of the audience. Marketing efficiency is very important, especially if you don’t have a huge supply of money to invest – like many indie authors and musicians.

Sometimes, you can widen the audience. For example, suppose that you wrote a mystery that strongly relates to basketball. In this case, you can target mystery readers and basketball players, as both may have a strong interest in the book.

In contrast, if a book is partly mystery and partly fantasy, trying to reach both mystery and fantasy readers may backfire: The mystery readers might not like the fantasy, and vice-versa. It’s better to market the book one way or the other, focus on the primary component, and try not to sell the secondary component. Some genres do mix well, like romantic suspense, which is already an established category.

Once you establish who the target audience consists of, the challenge is to reach them. Base this on the commonalities that they share.

  • Where are they likely to shop – both physical stores and online? Which departments?
  • Where will their common interests take them? Hobbies, sports, activities, entertainment, vacations, clubs, organizations, etc.
  • What do they read? What do they do online? Magazines, newspapers, websites, etc.

The more you know about the specific target audience, the better your chances of marketing success.

Start out by thinking about it and discussing your ideas with others. Focus groups can help, and so can customer surveys (but be careful what you ask, and show tact). Meeting and interacting with customers gives you firsthand information.

As you consider various marketing strategies, think about how each strategy may or may not be able to reach the specific target audience effectively. Following are some examples. You just have to think long and hard about this, as every situation is unique.

  • If you’re selling something instructive (how-to guide, software, nonfiction, learning resources, etc.), you could write and publish helpful articles, develop a blog, provide help in an online forum, give a workshop or seminar, etc. But focus on attracting the specific target audience.
  • Common interests among the target audience can help you meet them at clubs, organizations, presentations, etc.
  • Send a press release kit to local papers, radio stations, and television networks that have sections or shows which are a good fit for your target audience. Look for magazines and websites that match your target audience and try to get visibility there.
  • Research how to use social media to target a specific audience. For example, on Twitter, use relevant hashtags.
  • Develop a website (or blog, or both) with content that is likely to attract the target audience.
  • Build relationships with potentially useful contacts, with your target audience in mind.

Remember that most people don’t like advertisements. Advertising works better for companies with much money to invest, which can sell a large number of products, and where there aren’t too many competitors. Free marketing tends to be much more effective for smaller businesses or individuals, and this is even more important when there are thousands of competitors – which is the case for authors, for example. Low-cost advertising in products that may actually be used by the target audience – like pens or bookmarks – can benefit those with fewer resources.

In the latter case, provide helpful content that attracts the specific target audience, try to be visible yet unobtrusive, and make it easy for the audience to discover your product without looking like an advertisement.

An important aspect of marketing is branding – getting the target audience to recognize the name of the product or business, and perhaps associate it with some quality (like luxury, creativity, or inexpensive). Advertising that does work does so through the branding effect. But marketing that isn’t advertising can also be highly successful at branding – perhaps even more so, since it doesn’t intrude like an advertisement.

Individuals and small businesses can benefit by interacting with the target audience in person – online, too, but in person can be highly effective. It can be a treat to meet the owner, author, or inventor, for example, in person. This is a valuable resource available to the “small guy.” Start locally and work your way outward. Take advantage of the fact that local newspapers, radio stations, and television networks are looking for local stories.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 15 2013

Lousy Post

Not even a picture,

Self-deprecating title;

Just a bunch of words

Strewn loosely together.

 

No insights, no fiction,

Or knowledge to give;

Even lacking humor.

How can it be worth reading?

 

Yet bloggers will view it,

Read it, perhaps even Like it.

Do you really appreciate

Such a humble post as this?

 

(c) 2013 Chris McMullen

Sep 14 2013

Carrying a Book’s Theme Too Far?

Imagine that you are shopping for a Halloween book – ghost stories or puzzles with a Halloween theme, for example. You find a book that catches your interest and pull up the blurb. How would you react if the blurb reads with a Halloween theme? For example, the description may include phrases of the sort, “will chill you to the bone,” “great for entertaining vampires,” or “ghosts may or may not be included with purchase.”

When you explore the Look Inside, the copyright statement might include a remark like, “If you copy any portion of this book without the author’s express written consent, you will be cursed for thirteen years.”

Or maybe you’re buying a romantic nonfiction relationship book, where the copyright statement includes a statement like, “If you abide by the terms of this copyright agreement, the author will love and cherish you always and forever.”

An author of a Christmas-related book might include “Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!” and other holiday remarks on all online posts in the fourth quarter, and wear a Santa hat for personal marketing endeavors.

The end of a humorous book might suggest that if readers leave any reviews, to please consider trying to make their reviews funny. Or if they tell any friends about the book, try to do so in a funny way. That is, the author may even try to carry the theme into the fans. Why not? Look at the Trekkies.

What if a zombie apocalypse novelist uses make-up to look the part at a signing or reading? Or for a vampire book, just imagine the author being wheeled onto the stage, riding in a coffin.

Is this going too far? Does it convey the author’s passion? If an author can make boring statements on the copyright page enjoyable to read, does that bode well for the rest of the book? Are such samples of creativity good?

What do you think?

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 14 2013

Book Marketing: The Power of Perception

Perception is a very powerful marketing tool. Are you using it to your advantage?

Think about a moment where you’ve just heard about a new product. Perhaps a friend told you about it. Maybe you heard about it on the radio. You might have seen it in a store.

You probably didn’t use the product first and then form an opinion of it. Nope. Most likely, you developed an immediate perception about the product. You might investigate the product further before making the purchase, but that first impression is very important. If you had a poor impression, you may not even consider the product again. If it made an excellent impression, you tend to look for things that reinforce this – i.e. you see it in a better light.

Don’t just try to brand the book’s title or your name. Strive to brand a perception about your book.

The first step is to think about how you want your book to be perceived. It must be something that most readers will agree with once they read the book; otherwise, marketing the perception will be ineffective in the long run. In what way is your book distinguished, which will appeal to readers?

Here are some dos:

  • Keep it simple. People can remember a few words; a long sentence will likely be forgotten. One to three words that paint the perception can be branded effectively.
  • The perception should be highly relevant to the target audience. This way, the branding helps to attract the readers who are most likely to want the book.
  • Think about the selling points of your book, but just pick one. What distinguishing feature might appeal to customers?
  • If a popular book helps to paint the perception efficiently, you may be able to do this in a positive, tactful way – e.g. “like Harry Potter in space” (notice that it doesn’t say anything negative about the other book). Only try this if there is another book that’s a great fit to help you quickly paint the proper perception, and if the book is also well-known.

Now for a few don’ts:

  • The perception must be accurate, otherwise it will backfire. You don’t want readers expecting one thing, when in fact they will get another.
  • It can’t be “the best book ever.” This doesn’t say anything specific about the book, so it won’t attract the target audience. It also tends to generate the negative reaction, “Yeah, right!”
  • Don’t try to top popular books or movies, like “better than Star Wars,” or “the best mystery ever.” If the expectations don’t seem reasonable, buyers won’t invest in the book. Definitely, don’t put anyone’s favorite books or movies down. If you try to advertise that your book is better, it will create a mindset among some readers to try to prove you wrong.
  • Limit yourself to one quick phrase. Don’t try to market two or more perceptions. It’s much easier to brand one simple perception.

There are many possibilities: audience specific (a clean romance), a distinguished character (Gollum or Darth Vader), an attractive idea (a children’s series that teaches decision-making skills), a unique feature (like the twist-a-plot idea), a cool concept (imagine what it would be like to…), an improvement (a workbook and textbook integrated into one), or even exceptional preparation (“Judy spent three years doing the research for this book,” or “Bob had three different editors work on the manuscript” – but note that these two examples don’t attract a specific audience)… and the list goes on.

How do you paint the perception?

  • It helps if a glance at the cover reinforces the perception that you’re trying to paint.
  • Similarly, the title, blurb, and Look Inside need to reinforce this perception.
  • Mention it with your title on all of your online and offline marketing materials: end of posts, just after your book link, social media, bookmarks, advertising, press release kit, etc.
  • Use your phrase (it’s a strapline) in your personal marketing endeavors – mention it at readings, signings, interviews, blog tours, conversations, presentations, and whenever you have the opportunity to discuss your book.
  • Strive to paint this perception when trying to generate buzz for an upcoming book.
  • When you enlist others to help with your marketing – e.g. to create buzz or to help spread the word for a promotion – see if this perception can be included.

Perception is a difficult thing for a lone author to judge. External input is valuable for trying to make such predictions. Ask people what they perceive about your book? Run the perception that you’d like to paint by them and see how they react to it.

Some things are beyond your control. This includes reviews, recommendations, and referrals – which can be good or bad. You can get lucky and a complete stranger who enjoys your book may spread the word to many others, and you can get unlucky and someone can strive to paint a negative perception. You can’t control this. But there are a couple of things that you can do:

  • The better your book and the more effective your marketing, the more reviews, referrals, and recommendations you will get. The more you receive, the less effect the negatives will have and the more likely you are to have some helpful advocates among your fans.
  • Be wise, courteous, respectful, and professional in your interactions with readers, blog reviewers, sending out advance review copies, and all of your public relations.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 13 2013

What Writers Can Learn from Reading

Reading is a valuable hobby for the writer, as it provides numerous benefits:

  • Periodic reading of classics can help improve writing skills. Grammar, proper word choice, structure, and word flow tend to come a little more naturally. The current read may unconsciously influence the writer’s style a little, but the pros probably outweigh the cons. My dad (with a literature degree) knew someone who couldn’t pass an English test. After my dad recommended that he read some classics, instead of study guides, he actually passed the test next time. This may be an exceptional case, but there are many who advocate the benefits that reading classics has to offer.
  • Reading top sellers in the genre can be a valuable form of research. Think about how the book became popular – especially, if the author didn’t have a big name when the book was first published. Study the storyline, characterization, writing style, organization, and anything that might attract readers. Strive to find out what made the book successful. Don’t copy the same ideas; readers may not respond well to this. Rather, try to find general ideas that can be applied to your own writing, without doing exactly the same thing. For example, don’t create similar characters; instead, discover how the author made those characters so memorable, and learn how to apply it to make your own unique characters just as memorable. Consider what the book doesn’t do. This is important because some of the things that top sellers don’t do may have a tendency to deter sales. Each genre has some unspoken rules that can significantly affect sales and reviews.
  • A writer can see what the latest trends are, especially in the author’s genre. Following the trends may or may not be the best thing, but it’s important to be aware of what’s going on. The expectations of the target audience always merit consideration. If a new release is significantly different than most other new releases, for example, it might be desirable to make this clear in the blurb; maybe it will be a good thing, and maybe not, but readers are more likely not to be upset this way. If for no other reason, a fan might ask an author why he or she didn’t follow a popular trend. The author will look a little foolish if he or she is unaware of the trend.
  • Practice thinking from the reader’s perspective. An author writes a book from his or her own perspective. However, the reader’s perspective (more precisely, the general reaction from the target audience) is ultimately much more valuable to the book’s marketability than the writer’s perspective. Think about what’s important to you when you’re buying and reading books. Try to wear your reading shoes when you analyze your story, writing, characterization, style, formatting, cover, blurb, and even your marketing. The more you read, the more you can relate to this perspective, and the better your chances of looking at your own book critically. It’s no substitute for the valuable resource of external opinions, but it will prove valuable, since ultimately you have to make decisions about your book even if you do receive input or help.
  • See first-hand that even the most popular authors receive criticism. No book pleases every reader. Books with hundreds of reviews have some awful ones, even if the average star rating is very high. Seeing this for yourself may help you better learn to deal with criticism.
  • Become more familiar with the buying process. This can help you with your own marketing. How do you buy books? What keywords do you use in online searches? Do you browse thumbnails? Do covers play an important role when you shop? What effect does the blurb have on you? What kinds of covers appeal to you? Study the blurbs that sell books to you to learn what they did successfully. Do you check out the Look Inside? If so, what do you look for? What price range do you look for? Which reviews tend to influence you? Do you review books? What kinds of marketing tend to influence you? Explore the author’s marketing pages and try to learn some tricks of the trade. There is much that can be learned from the buying process.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 13 2013

Which Part of the Book Is Best?

Book Play Pic

COVER: I’m the best. Without me, they wouldn’t even check the book out.

STORY: Cover, you’re just the good looks. I’m the brains.

BLURB: Nobody will see your brains until I convince them to look inside.

PRICE: They won’t see how the story turns out until I show them what a great value the book is.

FORMATTING: My excellent design is what makes it such a great value.

CHARACTERIZATION: The memorable characters generate future sales through reviews, recommendations, and referrals. I draw out the reader’s emotions.

EDITING: Those would be bad reviews if not for me!

MARKETING: I created the buzz for this book, and I generated sales and reviews.

COPYRIGHT: You’re all wrong. I’m best.

BLURB: How the deuce are you best? Nobody even reads the stinkin’ copyright page.

Everyone but Copyright laughs.

COPYRIGHT: If not for my copyright statement, everyone would be getting this book for free. And if not for my fictional works disclaimer, we’d be getting our rear ends sued. That’s how!

STORY and CHARACTERIZATION: Get rid of us, and nobody would want the book for free. You wouldn’t be able to pay people to take the book.

CHARACTERIZATION: Besides, there isn’t anyone – living or not – fantastic enough to be confused with a character in this book.

EDITING: You weren’t so fantastic in the first draft.

COVER: I could have sold that first draft.

MARKETING: No, I could have sold it.

STORY: Only because the story is so amazing.

COVER: Who’s going to read the story if nobody checks out the book? Huh? Answer me that.

MARKETING: Not to worry. I have it covered.

COVER: Really? What if I were the ugliest cover anyone ever laid eyes on? Or what if I looked like a perfect cover for a completely different genre? Would you still sell me then? Huh?

STORY: Readers would rather have a great story than a great cover.

COVER: But they will judge how good the story will be based on how great I look. The truth hurts, doesn’t it?

BLURB: Even if the cover is amazing, they won’t check out the book until I capture their interest.

FORMATTING and EDITING: And they would shut the book quickly if not for us.

STORY: Or if I didn’t engage the reader right off the bat. Look, Cover and Blurb, you only have to engage the reader’s interest for a few seconds. I have to entertain the reader for several hours straight.

VOICE: I have you all beat.

PRICE: Who are you?

AUTHOR PAGE: I’m the about the author section.

Everybody but Author Page laughs.

STORY: Nobody even gets to the about the author section until the book is finished. How can you be the best?

AUTHOR PAGE: Because without the author, this book wouldn’t even exist in the first place.

FORMATTING: You’re not the author. You’re just a page about the author.

AUTHOR PAGE: I also generate future sales by sending fans to the blog, social media pages, and fan page.

MARKETING: You can thank yours truly for those pages.

COVER: Much of that marketing features a picture of me. My image makes the book marketable. I’m the brand.

CLIMAX: Excuse me.

BLURB: Yes…?

CLIMAX: I’m what every reader wants. They yearn for me. They read hundreds of pages just to get me. The closer they get, the more they want it. I give them everything their hearts desire. Any reader will tell you that I’m the best part of the book.

STORY: You!? You’re not even a whole page. They read me for several hours, and you just for a few seconds. Why, if not for me, they would never reach the climax.

ENDING: It’s not the climax they’re after. It’s the ending. They want happiness. They want all the loose ends to be tied. I make the readers happy. I make them come back for more in the sequel. I make them recommend the book to others.

COVER: Look! Someone’s coming.

BLURB: Places, everyone!

INTRODUCTION: It’s so nice to meet you.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 12 2013

The Writer’s Enemy

Authors share a common enemy.

This evil entity can affect every aspect of a book, from the writing to the marketing.

It starts out as just a tiny presence, seemingly innocuous.

Then it grows gradually.

Before the writer realizes it, this enemy becomes ominous.

It creates delays in the writing… hinders investment in cover design and editing… and destroys marketing effectiveness.

What is this evil monster?

It’s doubt.

When you doubt that readers will enjoy the story, it’s really hard to finish it… to put a full effort into it… to edit it well… to invest in a nice cover… to market the book diligently.

When you doubt your ability to market the book, you inhibit your own marketing efforts. Your lack of confidence shows through, creating doubt in the buyer’s mind. If you don’t believe in your book, why should customers?

Believe in your book to keep yourself motivated. Motivated to write, and motivated to market.

Become confident in your ability to write and market. Let your confidence show through. Let your passion for your writing show through in your marketing.

But don’t overdo it. Overconfidence can be a sales killer, and can make it difficult to handle criticism.

A little doubt can serve a useful purpose. But balance it with confidence so it doesn’t grow.

A little doubt can make you research the idea to see if it’s worth pursuing. A little doubt can make you consider an alternative. Make an informed decision and then be confident with it. A little doubt can make you edit yet again. A little doubt can make you compare your cover to those of top sellers. A little doubt can make you research other marketing ideas, just in case there is something better that you might be doing.

If you need to become more confident, you can try to build confidence in steps. A little feedback can help. Start with people who are likely to be supportive, and whose advice is likely to be helpful. Widen your audience, in steps, until you gain the confidence you need. Learn how to deal with criticism. Take a break after you receive it. Consider it another day. If it has merit and is something you are willing to do, implement it; if not, let it go. Be confident with your decision.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 12 2013

Authors: How about a Mission Statement?

Mission Statement Pic

Companies have mission statements. It’s a short paragraph that says what the company is all about.

Writing is a business. Even if you write for the love of writing, as most writers do, selling books is still a business activity.

So should an author have a mission statement?

Here are a few possible benefits:

  • Seeing and reading it every once in a while can help you focus on your main goals. What really drives you to write? It can help keep you from losing sight of this.
  • You can use it as a motivator. A few aspects of the writing business can occasionally discourage an author. When you’re feeling down, read your mission statement to remind yourself of some pros that may outweigh any cons.
  • Show that you’re human. Fans and potential customers who see your mission statement might notice your passion for what you do – i.e. it’s not about the money. They might see what really drives you.

Search for mission statements that companies write to get a feel for what a mission statement looks like and to help generate some ideas. Obviously, don’t plagiarize their mission statements; write your own statement in your own unique words. Just browse their mission statements to see some options and to get a feel for it.

Think about what really drives you to write. What are you really striving to accomplish through your writing?

What do you do with your mission statement after you write one?

  • At the very least, keep it handy – someplace where you will see it occasionally to remind yourself what your writing is all about.
  • You could add it to your website(s).
  • Should you include it in your books? You can. You could put it in your copyright page, about the author page, or anywhere else – it’s your book. Realize that including the words “Mission Statement” is optional. You probably don’t see mission statements explicitly declared in books unless the publisher chooses to include it somewhere. However, there are many authors or publishers who somewhere in the front or back matter do make some note that could very well be part of a mission statement.

If you publish with your own imprint, so that you look like a real publisher, then you can include a mission statement for the publisher – instead of the author.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers, Vol. 1 (formatting/publishing) and Vol. 2 (packaging/marketing)

Sep 12 2013

A WordPress Glitch Made Some Of Their Users Highly Concerned

In case you noticed a drastic drop in your followers today, you may want to check this out. 🙂