June 2009 Archives
How often I've heard a new writer say this? Often, this sentence preceded great stories. But just as often it introduced writings that were so half-baked I found myself searching for a tactful way to say "Please don't blame the Lord for this."
As many small-time authors and self-publishers have discovered the hard way, the traditional book publishing model is fraught with problems that conspire against an individual author/publisher making a decent living from their work. The traditional model normally involves two basic choices: 1) use a commercial publisher, or 2) self-publish.
How to Keep Your E-Newsletter Campaign Alive When You Just Don't Have Enough Time! by LisaMarie Dias
Public Relations is the art of getting other people to talk about you and sell your stuff for you.
If I came up to you on the street, interrupted your conversation with your girlfriend, and said, "Hey, buy this product. You'll like it!", you wouldn't buy it. You'd probably be ticked off at me, too. It wouldn't make you desire the product. That's how advertising works - advertising interrupts potential customers and forces them to listen. At least, it used to - now people tune out advertising. They don't even comprehend it.
DEFINITIONS
Retail margin is basically the difference between your book's wholesale price and your book's retail price. For example, a book with a cover price of $10 and a wholesale price of $5 has a 50% retail margin.
Wholesale price is the cost of your book to a retailer. To use the same rudimentary example, a book with a cover price of $10 and a retail margin of 50% will be sold to a retailer for $5.

Publicity is crucial to book sales. Unfortunately, many publishers are cutting back on marketing. Your book may be the best thing since sliced bread, but I guarantee that sliced bread will get more publicity. What can you do if you don't have the money to hire a marking firm? Here are some ideas to get your book and name noticed.
Below I have listed 10 strategies you can use to jump start a good book publicity campaign.
Contact the press immediately if your topic is making headlines. Ask not have not. You'd be surprised how many times you will be taken up on your offer to participate as an expert for an article or news story when you just ask.
"The only reason to self-publish is because you can't land a publisher."
Call me crazy, but for me, self-publishing was the first choice. I wanted to keep control of the project and timetable, keep the rights, and, most importantly, keep most of the profits. How did it turn out?
Christian retail is a hot market. Mainstream stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, and even grocery stores throughout the nation are profiting from the sale of Christian books, music, and DVDs.
Marketing your book is too important a task to leave to the good intentions of a publisher. Harsh words? Maybe, but after spending so much time writing your book, don't assume the publisher will put the same effort into the marketing of your book. I hear this issue every day from authors who contact me to promote their books. Believe me, writing your book was only the first step, making your book known so it can be sold is the survival step.
The biggest don't of a marketing plan is not having one! The second biggest don't is having one, even if it is just a handwritten list on a legal pad, but not following it.
A do of a marketing plan is to keep following it and not get discouraged. If something isn't working for you, try something else. Maybe skip it and go back to it later or not at all.
I recently talked to Andrea Mullins, the publisher of New Hope Publishers (who just happen to be the publisher of my book, Abundant Gifts). Andrea outlined the process in great detail. Though this process might differ slightly from publisher to publisher, most follow the same basic process. (I know, because I have worked with at least a dozen of them, as an author, editor, and/or book coach.)
Harsh? Perhaps. Honest. Absolutely. Are there already 20 titles on your non-fiction subject? Does the world really need a 21st? If so, how is yours different? Put another way, write a book people will want to read. No books on your subject? That could be good or could mean little market exists for the book.
To kill time in the grocery line the other day, I got into a conversation with the lady behind me. When I told her what I do for a living, her nose wrinkled.
"Why do you write fiction? Why not write a book that means something?"
Any time I have a problem with writer's block I will still make sure that I start getting content down even if it is only ideas or notes that I can use later.
I will often find that once I start jotting down ideas and notes that the writers block goes away and I can start creating good quality content again.
A sunny day with time to write your book, and then you cant get the creative juices flowing. You probably just need some ideas, a boost, a kick in the pants, whatever it is you need don't want to waste the day.
So how can you overcome this debilitating situation and get going?
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