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Promote your events @ Poets & Writers

Poets & Writers has revamped their Literary Events Calendar. They cite its "beautiful new interface makes it easy to find readings and other literary events near you, and to post events you are part of." 

And, of course, its free! Post your upcoming events now, and they will also be listed in our their new app -- Poets & Writers Local -- coming later this fall!

Go to the Calendar Now

Author marketing... a continuous improvement project

Publishers Weekly has an important article on successful self-publishing:
Self-Publish Like a Pro: Finding an Audience, posted July 10, 2014.

In it, Alexandra Fletcher discusses the need to build a base of readers before your book comes out.
Regardless of your road to publishing, her statements ring true, and are a wake-up call to authors who think their book will sell without visibility and following.

"Nothing diminishes an author’s self-publishing dream quite like watching sales stagnate after a title’s release. An author aggressively promotes the book on social media platforms. Her friends, co-workers, and family members buy copies and write reviews to show support. But within days or weeks of the book launch, the author is hit with the sobering realization that sales have dropped off because no one outside of her immediate social circle is looking for it."

Wherever you are in your book promotion plans, take a look at the article and see if you can adapt a few of Fletcher's suggestions.  Here is the link: Publishers Weekly

How a Contest Judge Views Your Book

How a Contest Judge Views a Book

by Helen Gallagher

Literary merit is a core requirement for any prize-winning book.

After succeeding as an author, book reviewer, and publishing consultant, I was recently pleased to participate as a judge in a national book competition.

If you are or have been given this honor, it is a big responsibility and a whole lot of fun. Each judge must critique the contest entries on a long list of factors, not limited to content, accuracy, editing, and design.

In order to avoid being overwhelmed, I agreed to judge only the three genres I know best. I would not feel comfortable judging categories where I don’t have an informed opinion of quality, such as mystery, sci-fi, or romance. 

Unlike my work as a book reviewer, in which I evaluate writing style and content and consider the value of the book’s theme or message, judging goes much further. Reviewers often discuss an author’s point of view, while letting the reader of the review know pertinent details of the book. That’s why people read book reviews—to determine if they want to invest time in reading the book.

In judging a book contest, the parameters are set by the organization or committee running the contest. They set criteria for entries and sort through all submissions to be sure each entry that is judged fits the standards for quality writing in the category. The biggest job for a judge is remaining objective in order to judge fairly. Frequently, contest entries are read and judged by two different people. The second judge performs the same task as the first: analyzing the book’s worthiness on all the variables, and the combined scores are averaged.

Most contests have very specific categories. As an author it is important to make sure your book is in the best category, or choose multiple categories, such as “Motivational” and “Self-Help,” to give your book a better chance against steep competition. Most contests charge an incremental fee for multiple categories, so be clear about the category that best fits your book.

As an author, what I found most interesting about being a judge is the importance of every detail. That’s right—If you enter your book in a contest, you don’t want to have a perfect book design but fall short on other elements or overlook errors. The lesson here is that when you are finalizing your book for publication, nothing is unimportant. Don’t overlook errors in the Table of Contents, pagination, page layout, or chapter headings, and re-check every word and every reference, from cover to cover.

Give the same consideration to the importance of good cover design and quality printing. Whether you use a traditional publisher, print-on-demand, or a local printing firm, your book must look as good as any other mass-market book to be worthy of an award. This includes cover artwork, fonts, design, proper placement of the ISBN and barcode, and error-free layout of both the front and back covers.

You may have a great story, but if you failed to do that last round of proofreading or checking the layout, another contest entrant may outshine your book by a few points.

Here are some tips to consider, not just when you prepare to enter your completed book in a contest, but before you publish your next book.

• Is your title/subtitle appropriate and does it generate interest?
  
  
• Does the title truly reflect the content of the book? Don’t fall in love with a quirky title that would disappoint or mislead the reader.
  
  
• Is your book price appropriate for the target audience? Have you done research to determine this?
  
  
• Do your book layout, editing, and design meet the highest standards?

These four sample factors are just the first steps in passing through to the award level in your book’s category. Many contests haves thirty categories by which each book is measured. If any of these initial factors is adequate but not truly professional, entering an important book contest might be a waste of money. 

Before you run back to your manuscript to polish it up, keep in mind that literary merit is a core requirement for any prize-winning book. Books up for award are of course evaluated on the writing, not just the spelling and punctuation, but quality of language, comprehension, and the ability to present material in an interesting way, authored by a person with the qualifications to write on the topic. 

Remember that your confidence in your book when presenting it for any award consideration requires all the up-front effort and attention to detail well before you even dream of winning First Prize in a book contest. The reward, though, when your book is chosen, is increased publicity and increased sales, because of the distinguished honor in winning a book award. 

Helen Gallagher is the author of Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way.
Her publishing blog is at releaseyourwriting.blogspot.com.  © 6/24/2014

Author marketing ideas to last all through 2014

This collection of 89 good marketing ideas comes from Caitlin Muir, a social media maven.

http://www.authormedia.com/89-book-marketing-ideas-that-will-change-your-life/

Instead of being overwhelmed by 89 more things you should be doing, consider tackling just one category per week or month.  The categories themselves will help keep you organized...

1. Increase your web presence

2. Build your fan base
 
3. Cultivate community
 
4. Make some extra money:  (Note her reference to MyBookTable, a WordPress plug-in you can use to sell books and make affiliate money from online book sales.)

Also, on a related topic, Amazon previously refused to keep Illinois authors in their Associates program, where you could earn money by leading people to amazon to buy your book. They have now reached an agreement with Illinois to allow authors back in the program. This would be in addition to what you might do using the MyBookTable plug-in from WordPress, which would allow you to also sell your books directly, not just through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. 

Good luck!
 

Marketing your book: What matters most?

This great chart from Lulu.com lays out the answer to the perplexing question all new authors have. What matters most when it comes to reaching my audience:

click on image to enlarge

Excerpted from Lulu's marketing guide - click for free download of the 34-page ebook from their site.

Wearing many hats

Writer? Author? ... Here's an interesting viewpoint on what it takes to make it today.

We know this, but this blog post excerpt, from Cheryl Pickett restates the facts in a direct way.

So, let me ask you.... my friends and clients who've successfully published this year, I'm sure this will resonate with you. She's right... so how many hats are you wearing to keep your book alive?


From Cheryl Pickett, TheNonfictionZone.com

"The biggest rule change? Unless you are writing just for a hobby, you need to wear much more than your writer hat. You’ll need to write, potentially publish, and definitely market. Bottom line, you are a small or micro business owner, not just an author. And that means you need to do all the things that go with running a business."

A little advice on succssful pitches

Thanks to Book Marketing Buzz for their timely tips on their blog. If I was going to BEA this year, I'd definitely nest in their corner and absorb more of their top marketing ideas.  With Spring in full swing, those of us who want to get articles published this year better step up. Knowing the long cycle from query to assignment, your pitch in May might be in print by November.

A recent post on their blog discusses the best ways to pitch the media when most of them are understaffed. The answer ,of course, is to make their job easier.

The way to appeal to the news media is:

<    * Localize your story when possible

<     * Have a truly timely and news-worthy hook

<     * Present a story that is easy to cover, with well-packaged materials such as written content, videos, or visuals

<     * Let them know you have a large platform, such as a big number of Twitter followers or YouTube viewers –
  this will move them to cover you because they hope your social media fans will follow them

<     * Say something new or something old in a new way

<     * Don’t make the media have to think, do research, or download 50 things – make your pitch short, simple and catchy.

Dozens of book promotion links

46 Book Promotion Resources. How many are you using?

Thanks to Savvy Writers & Ebook blog for this extensive list of book promotion resources. You're sure to learn of a few new resources here.  Enjoy!


http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/18-top-websites-to-promote-your-book-for-free/

Helen Gallagher