Category publishing

Apr 22 2013

Rush, Rush, Rush to Self-Publish!

Day 0:

Think, think, think. Think. Think… think.

Idea!

Day 1:

Type, type, type. Type. Type. Type, type, type.

Day 14:

Type, type, type.

Day 30:

Writer’s block.

Day 35:

Type, type, type.

Day 60:

T. Y. P. E.

Day 90:

Ta-da!

Day 91:

Proofread, proofread, proofread.

Day 92:

P. R. O. O. F. R. E. A. D.

Day 100:

Research publishing options.

Day 101:

Decide to self-publish.

Sign up for an account.

Day 102:

Learn about formatting.

Day 103:

Format, format, format.

Day 104:

F. O. R. M. A. T.

Day 110:

Upload.

Day 111:

Check digital proof.

Day 112:

Ask for help on the community forum.

Day 113:

Implement formatting changes.

Day 114:

Re-upload.

Day 115:

Publish!

Day 116:

Celebrate!

Day 117:

Encounter Look Inside issues.

Day 118:

Post question on community help forum.

Day 119:

Reformat.

Day 120:

Republish.

Day 121:

Find book way down in search results.

Day 122:

Still no sales rank.

Day 123:

No activity.

Day 130:

Request feedback on community help forum.

Day 131:

Look for cover designer and editor.

Day 191:

Republish.

Day 200:

Sales still infrequent.

Day 201:

Look into marketing.

Day 210:

Why was I in such a rush to publish my book?

* * *

If only there were a better way, like:

  • Researching the book idea before writing.
  • Perfecting the craft of writing.
  • Reading bestsellers in the genre to learn what works.
  • Checking out covers of top sellers in the genre to see what readers expect.
  • Reading blurbs of best sellers in the genre to learn how to draw interest.
  • Getting the book edited before publishing.
  • Seeking feedback on the cover and blurb before publishing.
  • Learning how to create buzz for an upcoming book.
  • Learning about marketing before the book is published.
  • Marketing before the book is published.
  • Coming up with an effective promotion plan.
  • More marketing after the book is published.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers (Volume 2 now available)

Apr 19 2013

Three – the Self-Publisher’s ‘Magic’ Number

In many ways, the number three serves as a ‘magic’ number for self-publishing.

(1) Three words or less.

Bestsellers often have three or fewer words in the title. This makes the title easier to remember, which helps with branding and word-of-mouth referrals.

(2) Three images or less.

The best front cover designs often feature three images or less. This makes the cover more memorable, and helps book browsers quickly see what message the book is sending regarding its genre and content. Busy covers tend to deter sales. Just one striking image that signifies the precise genre and relates to the content is most memorable.

(3) Three seconds to catch attention.

Customers who are browsing for books in search results quickly glance at various covers. Book covers have just a few seconds to catch attention.

(4) The three-color rule for cover design.

Professionally designed covers usually follow the three-color rule. The primary color and secondary color should create marked contrast. An accent color complements either the primary or secondary. The colors come in the approximate ratio 6:3:1.

(5) The rule of thirds.

According to the rule of thirds, an image stands out when it is one-third from the edge, rather than occupying the center. This also helps to leave room for the title and other cover text. Visually, the rule of thirds helps the onlooker to determine which part of the cover is the main feature. With the three-second rule in mind, this is an important tactic. When the main image is placed in the center, it instead divides the book into two equal halves.

(6) The trilogy.

Customers who enjoy a book usually want more. Three books is the tried and true number, such that we’re all familiar with the term ‘trilogy.’ Do you happen to know the terms for series with a different number of books? Most of us don’t, but we all know the term for a three-volume set. Readers like it when each volume of the series provides a satisfying ending of its own, and where each volume is so good that they want more. But after the third book, it becomes a challenge to maintain the original spirit while also utilizing enough creativity.

(7) Three or more contributors.

The self-published author must do all of the writing, editing, formatting, illustrating, marketing, and public relations. Almost all authors need help with at least two of these areas. Most self-published authors should hire an affordable, yet quality, editor for proofreading or formatting and an experienced, inexpensive cover designer. Marketing is another area where authors need help, but where there isn’t an easy way to buy your way out of this necessary and challenging work.

(8) Three R’s of branding.

Authors and books get branded with repetition among the target audience. Branding results in purchases when members of the target audience recognize the book while making a future purchase. It’s most successful when there are many customers both recognizing the book from branding and referring the book to others because they love the book. A prior article discussed the three R’s of branding (actually, this article has a fourth R):

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/marketing-the-4-rs-of-branding/

(9) Three marketing targets.

Authors can receive early sales of their first book from family, friends, and acquaintances and also use this group to help create buzz. They can draw from their fan base for similar support of their subsequent books. Their ultimate target is new members from the book’s target audience.

An author’s personal social media account helps to reach friends, family, and acquaintances. Fan pages and blog or social media followers of the author’s writing account help to stimulate sales of subsequent releases. Keywords, tags, and hashtags help to reach new members of the book’s target audience, as do personal interactions online and writing articles, for example.

(10) Save novelties for book three.

Most self-published authors want to deviate from traditional bestselling ideas. But this freedom comes at a cost. It’s more challenging to market books that aren’t geared toward a traditional audience. Authors looking to be in the elite group of bestselling authors should seek genres in which they are a good fit to write and for which there is a very large existing audience, such as mystery or romance. Don’t break the unspoken rules (like not providing a satisfying happy ending or giving the protagonist character traits or actions that will upset many readers) and design a cover, title, blurb, and story that these readers will be looking for if you’re hoping to be a top seller.

Once you’ve established yourself and built a following, with your third book you can exercise some creative freedom and break some of these rules. This way, there will already be a large audience willing to try your creative book, whereas trying this with your first book may reach a very narrow audience.

You don’t have to “sell out.” You have the artistic freedom to write as you wish. The question is how you wish to weigh the benefits of doing what you want versus the benefits of selling more books, as there is often a very strong inverse correlation.

(11) Three types of author websites.

An author’s blog features daily or weekly written articles. An author’s website does more than this. It may offer the author’s books and related materials for sale or provide supplemental content, for example. A fan page is geared toward existing fans. The blog and author’s website hope to reach new members of the target audience as well as interest current fans with useful content.

(12) Three author pages.

Authors maintain an author page at Amazon through AuthorCentral. They also establish an author account at GoodReads. A social media fan page, at Facebook or Twitter, for example, is another avenue where customers frequently search for authors.

(13) Three-dollar eBooks.

With KDP paying 70% royalties on eligible eBooks with a list price of $2.99 and up, the three-dollar eBook has become quite common. This may not be the best price, but it’s certainly common.

(14) Three books on the signature line.

An author with very short titles can squeeze up to three books on the signature line of online posts.

Chris McMullen, author of Book One, Book Two, and Book Three. (If only I had had the wisdom of choosing shorter titles in the past, I could illustrate this by example without making up book titles. :-))

(15) Edit three ways.

First, scroll through the book to look for visual formatting issues, like page break problems or inconsistent headers. Next, read the book thoroughly for proofreading. Finally, check all references to page numbers, figures, tables, citations, etc. for nonfiction and check for consistency in character and storyline references and development for fiction. For both, check the page numbering of the table of contents.

(16) Three e-readers.

The original black-and-white e-readers had small screens and allowed only basic formatting. The new color and high definition e-readers have larger, higher-resolution screens. Many readers also use small iPhones. It’s a challenge to make an eBook that has pictures format well on all three devices.

(17) The first three months.

With the Coming Soon, Last 30 Days, and Last 90 Days links at Amazon, books have a brief window of opportunity to thrive and develop their own legs to stand on. Good sales and early reviews that come through effective marketing can get newly released titles better visibility in search results and several associations on Customers Also Bought lists to help them succeed after the first three months.

(18) Three page layout terms.

Self-published authors who publish a paperback may learn about page layout issues known as widows, orphans, and rivers (you can find good images for this with Google, for example).

Three cheers for self-publishing! 🙂

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers (Volume 2 coming soon)

Apr 14 2013

Effective Book Marketing – Part 3

(5) Strive to generate word-of-mouth sales.

Word-of-mouth sales are among the best sales that your book can get, yet are also the most challenging to achieve. There are a few things that you can do to help garnish these valuable sales.

Try to create buzz for your upcoming book. Don’t simply publish the book and wait to see how little it gets noticed. Instead, strive to get people talking about your book prior to its release:

  • Solicit feedback on your cover, title, and blurb. Post these on your blog and Facebook, requesting comments. Show these in person. Have these with you and show them to people (especially, those in your target audience). You get valuable feedback and might help to create a little buzz at the same time.
  • Don’t keep your book writing a secret. People ask, “What have you been up to lately?” Let them know how your book is coming along. This is more effective when they inquire about your book, and less effective when you volunteer it. You’ll get tuned out if you’re always talking about your book.
  • Join a critique group, see if a book club is interested in your draft (if you’re already a member, this is far more likely), start a focus group, and find people who can read your book (in whole or in part) and offer feedback. The more people who know about your book, the greater the chances that some people will like it and talk about its upcoming release. You want people to be saying, “Did you know that So-n-so wrote a romance novel and it’s coming out this June?” You can’t tell people what to say, but you can create the opportunities.
  • Send out advance review copies. Search for bloggers who have a following among your target audience who occasionally review books and see if they would be interested in reading a free copy of your book for possible review on their blog (if you’ve already been a long-time, active follower, that may help). You can also search for book review websites. Keep in mind that the most popular bloggers and sites will already have numerous requests.
  • Arrange for book readings and signings. Develop a one-sentence strapline that will help generate interest in your book. When you interact with people (in general) or do a book reading, this is the thought that you want to leave them with.
  • Seek local press coverage from the media. Prepare a professional press release package. Local newspapers may have column inches to fill and like to feature local authors. Similarly, local radio shows may have minutes to fill; even try local television stations. Start local, then look for media that specifically relates to your target audience; when they’re trying to catch the same target audience, featuring you may be a good fit. Even if they can’t cover you on the air, they may be willing to post a brief note about you on their major website.

Realize that your book is a marketing tool in itself:

  • An eye-catching cover helps to attract interest in your book.
  • A cover, title, and blurb that send a unified message about the genre and content help to catch members from your target audience.
  • A cover that features one image and a title with two to three words are easy to remember and help with your branding efforts. This also makes your book easier to describe, which helps with buzz and word-of-mouth sales.
  • An effective, well-written blurb and captivating, well-written and well-formatted Look Inside help to sell your book. This is your only salesperson at the point-of-sale online.
  • The quality of the book significantly impacts your prospects for word-of-mouth sales. Editing or formatting mistakes detract from this. Memorable characters and great stories that evoke strong emotions for fiction, and helpful and clear explanations for nonfiction, improve your chances. These things similarly affect customer reviews.

(6) Be diligent, consistent, and persistent in your marketing efforts.

It can take a year of diligent marketing before your marketing efforts are fully realized. Trying for a short period and giving up prematurely is a common mistake. We like to see instant satisfaction, but marketing just doesn’t work that way. There aren’t any shortcuts. You can’t just throw money at it (like paying for advertisements) to reap instant rewards.

Be patient. Branding and discovery take time. People won’t rush out to buy your book the second they hear about it. It may take months until readers from your target audience have come across you and your book enough times for branding to take effect. Then it can take additional weeks before they’re shopping for their next book. It may take months to read your book. So it can easily be a year before they recommend it to others.

If you stop marketing prematurely, your branding effort will be incomplete.

Many marketing strategies actually have indirect benefits. So even if they don’t reap immediate sales, all of your marketing strategies that specifically reach your target audience may have long-term benefits. Don’t give up.

(7) Choose strategies based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Most authors decide which marketing strategies to adopt based on what’s easiest for them to do, what they feel most comfortable doing, what they perceive is popular among other authors, what they’ve heard other authors recommend, and especially what does or doesn’t seem to be providing immediate results.

What you really want to know is which marketing strategies will be most effective for your unique book.

Decide which strategies to employ based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Even if the marketing tool is free, it still costs you time. Therefore, every marketing strategy that you apply has cost, whether in money, time, or both.

Ideally, you want to reap the most rewards with the least cost. For each marketing strategy that you consider, make a list of the probable costs and benefits (and remember, time is money, so the time that you must invest is a cost, too).

Click here to view an article on cost-benefit analysis: https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/cost-benefit-analysis-for-marketing-books/.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

Apr 13 2013

Effective Book Marketing – Part 2

If you missed Part 1, you can find it here:

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/effective-book-marketing-part-1/

(3) Promote your book indirectly through discovery and branding.

Consider these questions for a moment:

  • When you’re walking down the sidewalk, do you like it when someone stops you to give you a sales pitch?
  • Suppose that an acquaintance tells you that you should come to his shop and buy a product first thing every time that you meet him. Would you appreciate this?
  • Do you believe it when somebody tells you that their product is the best ever?
  • If a stranger tells you out of the blue that you should buy a particular product, will you go to the store and purchase it?
  • Don’t you love it when a televised movie breaks to commercials just before the climax?

Most people have an aversion to advertising and salesmanship. You won’t sell many books through self-promotion and direct advertising of an unknown book by an unknown author with an unknown publisher.

Bragging also tends to be ineffective. It’s important to show confidence and passion for your own work, without coming across as boastful.

If you post online just to promote your new book, most people will ignore it. If you frequently advertise your book, most people will tune you out.

Now consider these questions:

  • When you see people wearing outfits that you like, do you ever ask where they bought them?
  • Suppose that you’re having a conversation with an acquaintance. You ask what he does and learn that he’s a singer who has just released a new CD. Would you be interested in buying a song from someone you’ve actually met?
  • If you’re buying a product in the store, do you ever choose one that you’ve heard of over one that you don’t recognize?
  • Do you enjoy seeing an artist’s passion for her work?

When people discover that you’ve written a book (rather than have you thrust this information upon them) they are much more likely to develop interest in it. If people recognize your book, your cover, your author photo, or your name from your indirect branding efforts (not from direct advertising or salesmanship), they are more likely to buy your book. When people see that you are passionate about your book, but not boastful, this tends to increase their interest in it.

The indirect techniques of discovery and branding tend to be far more effective than self-promotion or direct advertising.

Interact with your target audience in such a way that if they enjoy the interaction, they can discover that you’re an author and inquire about your book. Gear your marketing efforts toward increasing your visibility among your target audience in order to brand your book.

Personal interactions tend to be more effective. People like to read books by authors they’ve actually met. Mingle with your target audience. Let them discover that you’re an author, rather than volunteering this information. If you ask what they do for a living, they might ask the same of you, for example.

Of course, there is a limit to how many people you can interact with in person, so you must also interact with your target audience online. If they enjoy their interaction with you, they may check out your online profile and discover that you’ve written a book.

Where relevant, some authors end their posts with Your Name, Author of Your Book (in an online forum, it’s best if you have a very short title – two to three words). Don’t list several books and services at the bottom of your post, since this will look like your post is mostly about advertising and sales.

Branding entails more than just getting your book and name out there. Your image is at stake. Brand your book or your name in a negative way and it can greatly deter sales. You want to come across as professional, confident (but not boastful), trustworthy, credible as an author in your genre, respectful of others, knowledgeable, and as a model for how authors should behave.

Never behave defensively, avoid complaining, don’t say bad things about any customers or reviewers, refrain from asking for reviews, and so on.

(4) Attract a following by providing valuable content.

Blogging about yourself and tweeting about your book, for example, aren’t likely to attract new readers. You can provide more information about yourself on a fan page, but this just entertains a few of your current fans – it doesn’t gain you new readers. A fan page might help you spread the word of subsequent books. But what you really want to do is attract new customers.

What you want to do is provide valuable content that may attract your target audience. Get valuable content where your target audience is likely to see it.

When you blog, provide helpful nonfiction material that relates to your book (without duplicating the content). Blog because you’re passionate about the subject and wish to share it with others (don’t blog because you’re trying to sell books), and your articles are likely to be more valuable. When you tweet, focus on using the limited space to offer useful information to your target audience – often through a link (that doesn’t go to your own book or websites). Use tags and hashtags to help reach your target audience.

No more than 10% of your posts should be about you or your book. If people appreciate the content that you provide, they may check out your profile and discover that you’ve written a book.

Look for other ways to provide valuable content. Meet bloggers who are a good fit for your target audience: They might feature you on a guest interview (or review your book on their blogs), for example (something you can also do for others). Write an article and try to publish it online (the very large number of websites out there gives you reasonable chances of achieving this in a modest traffic zone), where the website is a good fit for your target audience and your knowledge and expertise. At the bottom of your article, you want it to list Your Name, Author of Your Book.

Passing out flyers generally isn’t effective because they just look like advertisements. Passing out bookmarks is much better because bookmarks serve a function – it has value to the recipient, especially if it doesn’t look like an advertisement for your book (it might feature images from your cover and mention no more than the title and author). Especially, distributing appealing bookmarks among your target audience can be helpful.

In every marketing strategy that you consider, think about the following:

  • Is this mainly reaching my target audience?
  • Does this provide valuable content to my target audience?
  • How will this affect my image as an author?
  • Will people view this as advertising or discovery?
  • Is it helping to establish your brand?

Click here to view part 3: https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/effective-book-marketing-part-3/.

Chris McMullen, author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.

Apr 10 2013

Professional Touches that Make Books Stand out

Design Marks

Small professional touches on the cover, title page, copyright page, and first pages can make a big difference. They may be little design marks, but they help to create a favorable impression.

Self-published books are competing against traditionally published books. Some books appear very much self-published at a glance, others are obviously traditionally published, and there are also many in between – those that use an imprint and look very nice, but not quite.

When we’re buying books, we prefer to find those that look professional. For this reason, all publishers – self or traditional – want their books to look professional.

One way to tell is to carefully examine the cover and Look Inside. Don’t just read the first chapter: If you’re looking for a professional book, look for visual clues before investing time on Chapter 1.

Following are a few examples. I’m not affiliated with any of these authors in any way. I’ve never met or interacted with any of these authors. I haven’t even read these books (well, not yet): I chose them for the professional touches that they illustrate, not because I wanted to recommend the content.

(1) Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki:

http://amzn.com/1591845831

See the gold starburst on the paperback cover. Such a starburst doesn’t need to be an award; it can be any note worth highlighting, although in fiction it’s usually an award. (By the way, although this book was published with Penguin, this author has recently self-published a book with CreateSpace.)

Starburst

Look at the pictures in the Look Inside of the Kindle edition. These are not just the front cover repeated inside, but are sending a unified message with the front cover by using the same butterfly.

Interestingly, the Look Inside for the paperback brings up the “Kindle edition” (or so it says), but when you click on the Kindle edition and then Look Inside, it’s different. The actual Kindle’s Look Inside includes a logo, for example. The logo is another professional touch.

Study the copyright page. Every traditionally published book has a very detailed, professional-looking copyright page. Virtually every self-published book has a minimal (if any) copyright page.

Why? Because self-publishers are thinking (A) customers don’t care about the copyright page and (B) they want to get to Chapter 1 as soon as possible, hoping to hook the reader who begins reading. Think about why traditional publishers don’t similarly minimize their copyright pages. Their copyright pages look very professional.

Customers don’t stop and stare at the traditionally published copyright pages. They pass right over them. It’s not going to be a delay on the potential customer’s route to Chapter 1. However, customers will catch a glimpse of the copyright page as they skip past it.

When customers see the minimal copyright page, it creates the impression that the book is self-published. Not much effort was put into this page (perhaps like the rest of the book?). When they catch a glimpse of the long, detailed, professional-looking copyright pages of traditional publishers, it makes the impression that a professional staff has combed through and prepared the book.

(2) The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott:

http://amzn.com/1118026985

You’ll find another starburst here; this cover also has matching top and bottom borders. (Note that this book is geared toward businesses.)

Check out the customer images and you’ll find an Amazon Video – a video from the author. There are many ways to use AuthorCentral to help make the book’s Amazon detail page look professional, too.

In the Look Inside, of course the copyright page is again very professional (since it’s published by Wiley). The page numbering, horizontal lines after section headings, and matching gray boxes outlining some short paragraphs are design touches that help the book appear more professional. Note that traditionally published books often have such design marks – which come in a wide variety of styles – but that they don’t overuse them.

(3) The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko:

http://amzn.com/1563523302

This cover has a corner stripe with text instead of a starburst (but when you Look Inside, there’s a similar cover with a starburst instead of a corner stripe).

It also features a logo on the copyright page.

Topher

(4) Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich:

http://amzn.com/0061787426

Most fictional books that include a starburst do so to indicate an award of some type (whereas a nonfiction book that doesn’t have an award or bestseller rank to advertise might use a starburst just to say something like, “Includes answers”).

If you publish a fictional work and don’t have an award, note a couple of other design marks on this cover: part of a green circle on the bottom right and a quote between brackets at the bottom center. Harper chose to clearly advertise that this was a “newly revised edition” right on the cover.

Notice the logo/picture at the bottom of the title page, which also appears at the top of the copyright page.

Find the flowery artwork border at the top of the family tree pictures. Such artwork can also be used as section breaks (provided that it matches the theme of the book). If so, it should be short – just taking up about one line of text (and often isn’t nearly as wide as the artwork I’m referring to here). For eBooks, a glyph section break should be in gif (not jpeg) format, and should look good against white, sepia, or black backgrounds (it’s very important to check the preview in each format with each background).

(5) Wool by Hugh Howey:

http://amzn.com/1476733953

When you Look Inside, first you find the logo, then you see a cool picture on the next two pages that looks like the “page” is torn. Although this is now published by Simon & Schuster, this author had been featured at CreateSpace.

Banner

Look closely at a variety of traditionally published paperbacks (and, where available, compare with their eBooks). You will sometimes see a couple of lines or other marks on the cover, copyright page, and other pages, or special marks used in a page header or footer, for example. This sample will help you see what’s possible and help to inspire a professional looking design of your own.

Check out traditionally published books in your own genre to see what kinds of design features are common. Some kinds of designs are more popular in some genres and much less common in others. You don’t want your book to seem out of place.

Don’t go overboard and overuse design marks. Don’t make the cover too busy with too many design details. Notice that traditional publishers tend to add occasional touches. An occasional design touch stands out very well – you notice it better this way.

Make sure that no design marks or pictures seem out of place. Any glyphs or images should match the theme of the book.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers (Volume 2 coming in mid-April)

Apr 6 2013

Self-Publishing Success?

A few self-published authors have been highly successful, which shows that indie success is possible. But the odds are very long, as the vast majority of self-published books don’t even sell a copy per day on average.

What have the top indie authors done differently? Is it just dumb luck?

No!

Self-publishing isn’t like buying a lottery ticket where the odds are incredible. With the lottery, every ticket has the same odds. But all self-published books are not all equal.

Not every book has a chance of winning the self-publishing lottery.

The top selling indie authors have some things in common:

(1) They followed good business models. Some authors, like Amanda Hocking, actually researched business strategies in their traditional publishing pursuits.

Most self-published authors do one or both of the following:

  • They get an idea, carry it out, and publish it. Business-minded authors won’t write and publish any idea; they will develop the idea as an integral part of the business strategy.
  • They want to do something significantly different than what is traditional. This is great for authors who want to write as artists and aren’t concerned about lack of success. The problem from a business perspective is that the existing readership has well-defined expectations in each genre and the vast majority of books that they purchase meet those expectations. More of these readers will explore something significantly different if the author first publishes a couple of traditional books and then attempts something new after building an audience.

Some authors genuinely prefer to write as artists, knowing full well that sales might be considerably less than what they may be if they approach writing from a business perspective. There is much to be said for the writing artist. It’s just very challenging to get noticed this way and to establish a large readership.

I’m not saying that you should write for money and not write as an artist. Rather, since highly successful self-published authors follow good business models, let’s follow the logic behind business-minded book development and see where it leads. In the end, I will explain how an author might write as an artist – not for money – and yet benefit from some of the same logic.

A business-minded writer doesn’t just write a book, but develops the book idea as part of a business strategy:

  • Start out considering possible subjects and genres. Of those genres which are a best fit for your writing, which are most popular? What experience or expertise do you have? What needs are there on the market?
  • Research each of these possible book ideas. What books already on the market are most similar to each of these book ideas? Look at their sales ranks. What are the best books like these that don’t have a big-name author or publisher? The business-minded author chooses a book idea with the best potential in a genre or subject that he/she is most qualified to write.
  • Research the top books in the genre similar to the book in mind. Can you compete with the writing in these books? Read these books to learn the unspoken rules of the genre. For example, the business-minded author won’t allow the protagonist to act in a way that will upset much of the potential readership and will create an ending that will please the target audience. The business-minded author develops an idea and writes a book geared toward the largest possible target audience that he/she is likely to attract with his/her writing skills.
  • The business-minded author is thinking about marketing throughout the writing process. This author is seeking input on the cover, title, and blurb for two reasons: to help generate “buzz” about the upcoming book and to see what features please or upset the target audience. (In contrast, too many indie authors disregard important criticism that they receive and focus mostly on feedback that coincides with what they wanted to hear.) They develop a great cover – often hiring a great cover designer – knowing how important this is to marketing. They wrote their blurbs and first chapters to be captivating, knowing how strongly this affects sales.
  • Pinpoint the target audience and discover where to find them and how to reach them. The business-minded author is thinking long and hard what marketing strategies will be most effective for them. Those who have a knack for business tend to be the most diligent, motivated marketers. They also know how to use price, discounts, giveaways, and series to their advantage. Everything from the cover to writing to marketing is part of an overall business strategy.

We’ll return to writing artists at the end.

(2) Most tried diligently to get traditionally published, but didn’t succeed in this until after becoming successful as indies.

Although they didn’t get traditionally published (before they broke through), they were doing all the right things toward achieving this, which helped them develop the skills that they ultimately used to thrive on their own.

  • They tried to improve their writing to get traditionally published.
  • They spent much time studying readerships in an effort to identify their target audience, since publishers are very interested in this.
  • They researched business plans to develop book ideas and write proposals that would help them get traditionally published.
  • They learned about marketing in order to convince publishers that their books would succeed.
  • They attempted to meet people who might help them with their writing careers.

These are all valuable skills that any authors can benefit from, self-published or not. In the last point, they also developed handy contacts.

(3) They were highly motivated to become successful writers. You have to be highly motivated to learn about business strategies when your initial goal is becoming an author. All those rejection letters from traditional publishers fueled their motivation. The best place for those letters is a bedroom ceiling or bathroom wall that you’ll see every morning.

Never give up. Constantly strive to improve.

***

Back to my earlier point: You don’t necessarily have to write for money to be successful.

You can be a writing artist and succeed.

The pure businessman who develops the perfect business strategy to write and market a book is highly motivated to do the marketing, but must find the passion to put into the writing and learn to write well.

The pure writer who writes for art’s sake naturally writes well and puts the passion into the writing, but must find the passion to do the marketing in order to be successful.

There is a limitation from the pure business perspective – i.e. how well can you write, how well can you tell a story?

The limitation for the writing artist is that not all book ideas are good ideas, not all stories have a potential readership.

Almost nobody is a pure business person or pure writing artist.

Determine which side you’re on – those are your strengths. The more you’re willing to improve your weaknesses, the more balanced you’ll become as a self-publisher, which will increase your chances of success.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers (Volume 2 coming in mid-April)

Apr 4 2013

Karma for Authors Who Self-Publish

In order to be successful, a self-published author must come up with a good book idea, develop a fine story, write well, edit the manuscript, learn how to format both a paperback and an eBook, and become adept at marketing.

That’s a tall order. Why risk all of that hard work with any possible bad karma?

If you don’t believe in karma, then don’t think karma – think branding. The image that you brand as an author can have a significant impact on sales. Don’t risk bad book karma or negative branding – whatever you prefer to call it.

What do you hope for as an author?

  • Many sales.
  • Frequent reviews.
  • Word-of-mouth referrals.
  • A nice review average.
  • Good and fair comments about your work publicly.
  • Necessary criticism privately.

Authors may not all share the exact same wish list, but these items are probably pretty high up on most writers’ lists.

Now assess your book karma:

Part 1 – You as a reader:

  • How often do you read self-published books (that you discovered yourself)?
  • Do you leave good reviews for books (written by complete strangers) that you like?
  • Which books (written by complete strangers) have you referred to friends, family, acquaintances, or colleagues?
  • What have you done that might help an author you don’t know whose book you enjoyed?
  • Have you ever (publicly) said anything bad about any other self-published books?
  • Have you ever (publicly) said anything bad about self-publishing? eBooks? Amazon? Kindle?
  • What do you say when people you know ask you about buying eBooks, whether you like your Kindle, if self-publishing is a good idea, etc.?

Part 2 – You as a writer:

  • Did you take the time to perfect the editing and formatting of your books?
  • How do you react when you receive criticism about your work (privately or publicly)?
  • Do you ever respond negatively to customer reviews?
  • In what ways have you helped other aspiring authors improve their own work?
  • Have you ever abused the customer review system, tags, likes, etc.?
  • How do you behave at online discussion forums and your other online activities?

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers (Volume 2 coming in mid-April)

Mar 29 2013

Artists Who Love Marketing – an Oxymoron?

Whether you paint a picture, write a book, or invent a new product, if you did this with the creative passion of an artist, it’s only logical for you to be highly motivated to market your work. Yet most artists express a loathing for marketing.

Why? One reason is that marketing sounds like business and salesmanship. Artists enjoy creating their art, and authors love to write. But business and sales often doesn’t easily arouse their interest.

Let me take a detour and explain that marketing creative products – like paintings and books – isn’t about business and salesmanship. Then I will return to my main point – i.e. why artists should naturally be motivated to market their work.

Marketing a creative product is more about discovery and branding an image, and less about business and salesmanship. Books, for example, aren’t sold by persuasion like used cars. In fact, no salesman is even present – this is obvious for eBooks, but even in the store there is usually just a cashier. What bookstore will thrive with a pushy salesman looking over customers’ shoulders in the middle of the aisle?

Similarly, self-promotion doesn’t tend to attract much interest. “Hey, I just wrote a book and it’s the greatest thing ever so you should check it out,” isn’t the way to sell books.

Instead, when you personally interact with people – in person or online – and people “discover” that you are an artist, author, or inventor, for example, they often want to learn more. People like to buy products that were made by people they know – how often do you get such a chance? – provided that they discover it rather than having it thrust upon them.

“What do you do for a living?” “What have you done recently?” “How’s your new book coming along?” There are so many ways for people to learn more about you and discover your work. They could even click on your online profile.

The more people you personally interact with, the more your work may get discovered. This also helps to create “buzz” when you release a new product, which helps to earn early sales and reviews.

Marketing a single artist’s creative product involves branding. Advertising to say, “This is the best thing since sliced bread,” isn’t going to help, and demanding, “You should go buy this product now,” is a waste.

Commercials don’t work because the majority of people do as they’re told or listen to whatever the television tells them. They work because of branding. When people are standing in the grocery store, deciding which product to buy, they don’t remember what the television said was better and they’re not there because the television told them to go shopping – more often than not, they simply recognize a product that they’ve heard before. That is, they remember the brand. People tend to buy products they’ve heard of, and for which they like what the brand symbolizes.

Fortunately, a single artist doesn’t need to pay advertising fees to brand an image. Branding can be done for free. Getting your product, name, and image in front of your target audience helps to establish your brand as an artist or author. The more they see this, the more they are likely to recognize your product, then one day when they are buying a similar product, they may buy yours.

One way to get your target audience to see your brand is to post valuable content online. Posting advertisements about your product, posting content about yourself, and posting links to your other sites won’t likely attract much interest. But posting valuable content for your target audience may attract new customers. If they appreciate the content that you offer, they might click on your profile to learn more about you – and, lo and behold, “discover” your work.

Every time they visit one of your sites, they see your name, your photo, and an image of your product. Someday, when they are buying a similar product, if they recognize and buy your product, the branding was successful.

Where persuasion fails, discovery often works. Where overt (and even paid) advertising is ineffective, free branding is a great help. So don’t think of marketing as business and salesmanship. Think of it as interacting with others on a personal level so that your work can be discovered, and branding an image so that you and your work may be recognized.

Now for my main point: Artists should naturally be motivated to interact with others personally so that their work can be discovered, and should naturally be motivated to attract the attention of their target audience so that they can brand their image (for which, posting valuable content online is just one of many examples).

So why should artists naturally be motivated to market their work?

It’s simple, really: If you have passion for your artwork or book, you should also have the passion to share this work with others. And how do you share your work with others? Marketing! Use your passion for your work to motivate yourself to work diligently to share your work with others through marketing.

Furthermore, when others see the passion that you have for your work firsthand, they are more likely to get interested in your work. (But be careful to show passion and sound confident, but not to be boastful or overconfident.)

Would you rather buy a painting that was made by an artist that was passionate about his/her work, or just kind of threw something together because he/she was bored?

If you meet two artists, and one sounds kind of bored talking about his sculpture, while the other is clearly passionate about his/her work, which sculpture will interest you more?

If you’re passionate about your work and you strongly believe in it, then you should also be passionate about sharing your work with others (not just “getting it out there” – art doesn’t tend to sell itself). If you’re not passionate about marketing your own work, it suggests that you weren’t all that into it or that you feel like something may be wrong with it.

You don’t have to be a salesman to sell your artwork or book. You just have to be passionate about sharing it with others. Marketing through discovery and branding is a natural fit for the artist. It’s just a matter of perspective.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Mar 23 2013

Marketing Isn’t an Afterthought

Unfortunately, most new self-published authors don’t consider marketing until after they have published their books. When sales are dismal, then they see firsthand the importance or marketing. Or they ask other authors on a community forum, “Why isn’t my book selling?” One of the answers will be marketing.

It sure would be nice if we could just throw our books out there and watch them sell like hot cakes. Everyone hopes for this.

But there’s a major problem with this approach: When the book doesn’t sell all by itself, the best marketing opportunities have already passed by. Now it’s too late. So most authors settle for better-late-than-never.

The problem is that after you publish, if you haven’t yet marketed, you’ve lost your chance to create buzz for your book and your lack of sales history will be a challenge to overcome. When you effectively market early sales and build a healthy sales history, this gives you much more exposure on Amazon – e.g. through Customers Also Bought lists and 100 bestseller lists (if you really succeed).

Marketing is something that should begin before the book is published – when the book is still being written:

  • Generate “buzz” for your upcoming book. You want people talking about your book in person and via social media before it’s released. You don’t have to spend money on advertising to achieve this.
  • Let people discover that you’re working on a book. “What have you been up to lately?” People tend not to like advertisements and salesmen, but they like to feel that they’ve discovered new things.
  • When you meet people, let them discover that you’re a writer. People like to buy books from authors they’ve personally interacted with.
  • Show your passion for your work. When others see your passion, it makes them more interested in your work.
  • Get feedback on your cover design. First, you get valuable suggestions and find what puts people off and turns people on. It also helps to create a little buzz.
  • You can also solicit feedback on your title and blurb. Do this in person and online.
  • Carefully let people know on occasion something that’s special about your project – e.g. if you spend an abnormal amount of time writing or doing research, or if you’ve had a few edits from a professional editor.
  • Don’t overdo it. If you talk about your book every time you interact with friends, family, and acquaintances, you’ll get tuned out. Let them inquire about how your project is coming along.
  • Publish a paperback with CreateSpace and use Amazon Advantage to enable preorders. Customers can then order your book before it’s even published.
  • Preorders give your book a headstart in sales rank and help to quickly develop Customers Also Bought associations. A tremendous jumpstart can give you mega-exposure on 100 bestseller lists.
  • Send out advance review copies. Goodreads can help with this. This gives you a chance to earn a few early reviews.
  • Realize that your cover is a valuable marketing tool. A striking image attracts attention, relevant imagery signifies the genre. A memorable cover with one main image makes your book easier to recognize and describe to others.
  • Perfect your blurb and Look Inside before you publish because these can have a profound influence on sales.
  • Perfect your editing, formatting, and storyline before you publish. If people love your book and the writing, they are far more likely to leave good reviews and recommend your book to others by word-of-mouth.
  • Start a blog before you publish your book. This may only help you create a small following, but that’s not the point. The point is when your About the Author section directs readers to your blog, you don’t want them to show up and find an empty blog with one post, two followers, and three likes. Have some content available and gathering started before you publish.
  • Don’t just blog about yourself unless you’re already a celebrity. Try to develop useful content that relates to your book and genre that will attract not only fans, but perhaps others from your intended audience, too.
  • Develop your author websites before you publish so that you can include the links in your books.
  • Get your social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) started before you publish. This can help you create buzz for your book and get early sales and reviews. Get your pages setup and have active content before you direct traffic there.
  • Setup fan, book, author, and/or imprint pages at Facebook.
  • However, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. If you have a blog, Twitter, Facebook, separate accounts for author, book, publisher, fan club, etc., you want to be able to manage everything and keep content up-to-date. Some pages may not need updating (like a simple page for the publisher), but some do – like your blog and Twitter.
  • Choose one author photo that you can use everywhere. This recognition helps you create your brand/image as an author.
  • Develop a logo before you publish so that you can use it on all of your books and websites.
  • Choose an imprint before you publish and develop a website (free, perhaps) to help lend it some credibility.
  • Setup your AuthorCentral Author Page at Amazon. Setup your Goodreads author account.
  • Use your own passion for your book to motivate yourself to market diligently. Believe in your book enough to want to share it with others, to want to market actively so that others will learn about it.

The longer a book sits on Amazon and doesn’t sell well, the greater the history of no sales counts against you. If you suddenly market some new sales, your sales rank still skyrockets quickly because of that lack of history. Market effectively out of the box to build a strong early sales rank. Get your book started off on the right foot.

Publishing Resources

I started this blog to provide free help with writing, publishing, and marketing. You can find many free articles on publishing and marketing by clicking one of the following links:

Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

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Mar 16 2013

What’s the Deal with Mannequin Covers?

A growing number of indie covers are featuring mannequins. Is this good or bad?

It’s a challenge to design a great cover. Indie authors don’t have the luxury of a cover design team or much money to invest in professional help, yet covers can be very important for the success of a book. Thus, many authors who are inexperienced artists are suddenly faced with the task of putting a great image together for the thumbnail and front cover.

This is no easy task, and the cover art critics are fierce:

  • Anything hand-drawn is deemed fit for a refrigerator, but not for a book.
  • Any photo in the foreground of a nice background is deemed a photobomber.
  • Highly detailed artwork is said to make the cover too busy.
  • Deformities in fingers, hands, limbs, or faces are ridiculed.
  • When the aspect ratio is tweaked slightly to fit the cover, it’s cursed for distortion.
  • If a person happens to strike an odd pose, even this is pointed out.
  • The photos must be cleaned up and professional, else the technique will be criticized.
  • Indie authors are supposed to know to use just three colors in a ratio of 60-30-10.
  • Colors must work well together, with the title large and easy to read.
  • You also need to watch out for the font police, who can be very picky.
  • But if the images don’t relate to the content, that’s a serious violation.

Drawings pose an instant problem. Taking your own photos requires professional skill. There are many stock photos available, but not always in the pose or colors that you want. To top this off, you must find images that signify the genre and relate to the content.

So what’s the solution? Maybe this is why more indies are featuring mannequins on their covers. It’s much easier to manipulate a mannequin with a graphic arts program. They are easy to adjust, clothe, maneuver, touch up, and preserve proper shape and size. Some of these mannequin covers are very well done, so much so that I didn’t realize that they were mannequins at first.

But now I see the cover art critics blasting indie covers that feature mannequins. For example, are there mannequins on the cover because it’s a romance between mannequins?

I actually hired an illustrator to design a cover for an upcoming fictional book, for which I was completely stumped on the cover. The result looks great, but the main image does look a little like a mannequin. I’m going to keep it, for better or for worse.

What’s your opinion? I’d love to hear your take on these mannequin covers. Is it good, is it bad? If you made it to the end of this post, please feel free to take a minute to express your opinion. Your opinion is welcome (encouraged even), and won’t likely offend me or the mannequins. 🙂

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers