The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

I'd like to start a new forum where people can talk about what's working for you right now in marketing your book.

I think this will help other authors to prioritize their activities if they can find out what's working for other people. This would be especially valuable to new authors.

I've share the hottest tool that I'm using right now. And that's Twitter. As you will note on the main page of this Book Marketing Network website, both my http://www.bookmarket.com website and this network have been rising in Alexa ranks (and visits) because of my use of Twitter.

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Also, I put a rely on your post about seeking reviewers.
Thanks!
I wouldn't recommend Adwords, if anyone is. I tried it for 4 months and couldn't attribute a single sale to it. Problem with books - you don't make much money per book so paying per click can be expensive.

David,

 

Adwords works for me in advertising my web based online resources at www.character-education.info . Typically, people are signing up for a $14.75 subscription, so it's much like buying a book from the price perspective. But occasionally schools pay a $99 subscription for the entire school.

 

What I've found is that I have to be very specific in my ad: not paying for the general term "character education", which would bring in a lot of people who are looking for free stuff, but I have to pay for their click throughs. Instead, I pay for the very specific phrase: "character education lessons" which brings me people looking for lessons.

 

I've thought about trying this for one of my books, like for a book marketing book, buying the phrase: "book marketing book." That way, the only people clicking through would actually be looking for a book, rather than the topic.

What do you think?

Hi John,

 

I heard a podcast you did on how to sell 100 books in 30 days and it was fabulous. Thank you so much for your willingness to share your experiences.  I was so stoked, I wrote about you here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6191484/book_marketing_onl...

 

I just published my book 12/10 and what has worked for me so far is social network marketing. I'm selling books to my friends, family and those that I have met through article writing.  My hope is that they will tell others so that I can get some traction. Also BookBuzzr and Goodreads have give me some visibility and I have met some new contacts there.

 

Keep writing!  Kay

Hi Everyone! I just discovered something fabulous in the way of getting people to notice your books. I found out what Blog Hops are all about. They are fantastic. Over at "I Am A Reader, Not A Writer," they have book giveaways for authors or bloggers each month. Readers hop from one blog to another. This site gets a lot of exposure. I signed up last month for December and received many new people at my blog site. It was amazing. You just sign up to have a book giveaway at your blog and many people visit, read about you, and then comment for a chance to win a free book. They have 2,130 followers. Wow! They're having a Book Giveaway Hop beginning tomorrow morning at http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/giveaway-hop-page.html. Check it out and see what I mean. This one will last for 4 days. You should visit and check out all the sites that have signed up and this will help you to understand how it works. Good luck, Everyone!

Linda,

 

This is a great suggestion.  I have a blog: http://Jeanettethewriter.blogspot.com  and after I check this out I'm going to try the Blog Hop.  Another way I promote my novel, NO STONE UNTURNED, is to make presentations at various over-55 communities in my area.  Each of these communities has an activities director and they're always looking for events for their residents.  They love having an author speak about their book, writing, and publishing.  I always sign and sell books at the end.  Check this out in your area.  You should get a good reception.

Jeanette,

 

Great suggestion! I think that sometimes we get so excited about social networking on the Web that we overlook the opportunities in our own communities. I know one author (of a novel) who has had success with book discussion groups. (They read his book and then invite him in to interact with them personally.) I've seen some authors who have great success selling their books locally, like at the cash register at a local restaurant. And since many local people are connected on the Web, they can spread the word further.

 

J. Steve Miller
President, Legacy Educational Resources
Author of Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It
"The money book for people who hate money books."
http://wisdomcreekpress.com/press_kits.html

Hi Linda,

 

Thanks for the referral. Just stopped by. Awesome idea.

 

K

I could not be more pleased with the reviews posted on my novel, Deadly Portfolio A Killing in Hedge Funds  Nearly a score have been posted on various web sites and blogs dedicated to reading and reviewing books--everyone enthusiastic. Now I hope that all the good publicity will translate into sales. Several things, as a new author, I have found do not work, and I feel that my ignorance was exploited. I self-published through Outskirts Press. I was urged to pay an additional amount to give brick-and-mortar bookstores the priviledge to return my book if it didn't sell. I was not advised that it might take up to a year for the promotional campaign to capture the interest of these sellers. I was urged to copywrite my book for a fee whereas publishing it establishes a copywrite in fact. I was urged to spend mony on marketing help which resulted in establishing me on several internet facillities such as linked, tagged, and a host of others which have turned out to be useless until I get up to speed on using them. My advice is go slowly. Wade into the shallow end first and get accustomed to the water before plunging into a depth where drowning is possible.

John,

 

I think going slowly is great advice. I hear lots of marketing types saying, "you've got to do this and this and this," and I respond, "How do you have the time?"

 

In general, I find bookstores to be a big gamble that pay off for very few. I'd keep learning about book marketing over time (John Kremer's 1001 Ways to Market Books is a standard reference), prioritize what makes the most sense, and implement each step as you have time. Once we get past the obsession with bookstores, we don't have to do it all at once to get bookstores to buy and customers to buy from them, all within a 3 month period or so after a book's launch. Instead, we can try one thing for a few months, then learn another method, until we find what works best for our books.

John and Steve,

 

You both give good advice.  I, too, published with Outskirts Press but did not buy the "retail returns" package as I knew it didn't guarantee that a book store would buy my book anyway.  I find that local independent book stores will take my book on consignment, and we make an agreement to split the sales price when the book sells.  Check a previous response of mine where I spoke about doing book presentations at over-55 communities in my area, southern California.  You have a ready made audience who love to hear authors, and I always sell books afterwards.  Good luck in your writing.

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