anthony mutsaers's Page

Anthony, I just received the following email: (my reply appears just below)

A message from anthony mutsaers to all members of Self Publishing on Book Marketing Network!

HI,

I print with a company which does not distribute nor market, so now I need to find a company which accept to distibute and market already printed books. Any ideas, suggestions??
Thanks,
Anthony

Well Anthony, it seems that you have stumbled on the $64,000 question (that's a reference to an old TV game show of the same name). The beauty of this modern world is that authors all over the globe are faced with the same problems that you bring up. We can finally see our books in print--yaay! Now what?

Unfortunately, it is up to each of us to become marketers, and as much as that is like asking every fairy tale princess to take off her gown and glass slippers and "get a job like the rest of us, woman!" that is what the world has for us.

Sure, there are "book marketing gurus" on every street corner who prey upon authors, shouting that they have the secret to getting you on Oprah, or getting your books into airport gift stores--as long as you spend anywhere from (usually) $5-$50,000 (US--Euros might be even more) with them.

Is there such a place that will market and distribute your books? Not so much like a gingerbread house or a fairy castle (a one-stop location), but there is an old shack around the back where the gatekeeper lives. We call that Ingram, and they can get your book LISTED (you still have to do the publicity and marketing yourself) at Amazon.everything, Barnes & Noble, Border's, and probably Europe and the UK's largest book retailers.

You can also get directly into Amazon on your own, but you still have marketing issues. What you need is a good old fashioned army of orcs (or salesmen if you don't have any troglodytes laying about). What most of us do is pick up the following books and just start doing things ourselves:

1,001 Ways to Be Romantic, or is is 1,001 Ways to Market Your Books? I can never remember. Perhaps that i why my girlfriend is always mad at me.

The Web-Savvy Writer. BUY THIS BOOK!! It is all about online marketing, and it works.

Sell Your Book on Amazon (By Brent Sampson--a masterpiece specifically on the intricacies of Amazon.com)

Plug Your Book (Steve Weber)

Jump Start Your Book Sales (a MUST have) by Marylin Ross

Those will get you started. If you were stranded on a desert island, like that guy in Castaway, with a volleyball, a laptop with satellite internet, 10,000 copies of your book, and the books I just listed, you could become RICH in a few years, assuming the Fed-Ex guy stopped by every few days to pick up books and drop off checks. These books really work.

And if you need help reframing your paradigm on the whole books to readers process, please pick up a copy of Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. (The original version ONLY). This book will change your life--fast.