Authors On The Net

Authors on the Net is proud to announce its sponsorship of the Winter 2010 Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest. We had a lot of fun last summer when we ran the first contest and the winner, Kurt Behm, generated over 17,000 page hits and 2,100 reviews for his book.

We sold over 100 books directly from the contest with one author selling 25 copies. But most authors found the reviews their fans left to be the most valuable reward.

For me personally, it is exciting to offer authors a social media event they can use to increase their audience.

The grand prize is the best-seller campaign. Last October we placed Kurt’s book at number 83 on the Barnes and Noble.com best-seller list.

In addition to the grand prize, we are offering a $500.00 second place prize, and $50.00 for the third, fourth and fifth place prizes.

I invite you to click on over to www.WakeUpCelebrityAuthor.com and enter your book. You can also listen to Kurt talk about the strategies he used to win the Summer 2009 contest.

This is a comment Jack Shea made in his article, “Self-Publishing: A good time for Island Authors.” I just bought a used car for my daughter, A Mitsubishi Galant with 53,000 miles. I’d say this is a pretty good used car. It cost us $6,000 and that is about what it costs an author to produce a bookstore quality book.

This $6,000 number includes the cost for a bookstore quality cover design, interior page design, good content editing, proofreading, printing at least 250 copies and some basic marketing - getting it on Amazon, building a blogsite, email advertising etc.

At the end of the day, as Jack says, you become not only a published author, but also an entrepreneur:

As traditional publishers reduce their title lists and reduce author advances and promotional budgets, many Island authors have become entrepreneurs. Self-publishing, e-publishing and print on demand are the new publishing buzzwords. They represent a new paradigm that uses myriad combinations of Internet marketing, printing technology, and small publishers to replace the traditional corporate publishing path, which is less available than ever to writers without a proven publishing pedigree.

Over the past 4 months we had about 10 self-published books competing in bookfairs with other royalty published books. The 3 titles that looked like they belonged in a bookstore sold quite well, but the other titles that looked self-published did not. I am convinced a quality self-published book is just as valuable as any book a “big house” can produce, but there is a significant investment in time and money.

Also, you need a strong team around you. This team is your designer, your editor and other people you bring on, either as a paid vendor or as an advisor. Listen to the people on your team as their input is invaluable. When choosing the publishing company to use, be very selective and ask the following questions to see if the company fits the overall goals you have for your book:

1. How much control do I have over the design?
2. Do you provide content editing?
3. Do you have a proofreader separate from the content editor?
4. How much will a book cost me? (This gets tricky. If you print yourself, i.e. with a local printer, books will cost less than if you go with a POD publisher, generally speaking. It’s good to talk to both POD publishers and printers who specialize in books.
5. What kind of marketing support to you provide?
6. Do you own the rights to my book or do I? If they put their ISBN on your book then they are the publisher of record. This is okay, but you want to be able to cancel out of their contract and put your own ISBN on if you become disastisfied later on. Never lock into any long-term contracts.

The process of self-publishing can be daunting, but if you go through the process in the right sequence you will find it is a very rewarding adventure.

I was consulting an author the other day and we were discussing his target audience. I like to guide authors to narrowing down their target audience as much as possible. For example, the primary target audience for my journal, I Survived 2012 Daily Journal are women over 40 with 2 kids and an income over $50,000. I even gave my target customer a name, Amanda.

The purpose of naming my target audience is the name creates a mental picture in my mind and when I decide certain marketing activities, the voice of “Amanda” is often there guiding me in my decisions.

Dana, in her article, advocates marketing to the people who can influence others to buy your book. In a way, this is what my “Amanda” is. She is an influencer. If I can effectively market to the the thousands of Amandas in the world, then they will influence others to buy my journal. Dana makes some great points below:

Your Book Marketing Plan - Who Should You Be Promoting Your Book To?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dana_Lynn_Smith]Dana Lynn Smith

A written book marketing plan is an essential tool in effectively promoting your book. One of the first priorities in developing a marketing plan is to define your target audiences. Your audience may be wider than you think. Your marketing plan should include strategies for reaching several different target audiences, including: Read the rest of this entry »

Excellent advice here from Irene Watson on book cover design. We print many different books each month at ZDocs and what makes a book look like it belongs on a Barnes & Noble bookshelf is its cover design.

Most professional covers cost anywhere from $350 to over $1,000 and it is vital to work with a designer who has experience designing book covers. Irene’s advice will help you get the right cover and will also help you keep your cover design costs down.

Enjoy!

Tips For Attractive Book Covers
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Irene_Watson]Irene Watson

As important as it is to write the best book possible (quality will lead to word-of-mouth sales), the book may never leave the bookstore shelf if the cover doesn’t grab the reader’s eye. Bottom line, what your book cover looks like is probably the most important aspect of the entire book design and marketing process.

In designing your book cover, remember, “Less is more.” A simple straightforward concept on the cover will do more than complicated designs and fancy artwork. If the cover doesn’t grab the readers’ eyes and make them curious about your book within a couple of seconds, the sale is lost.

Here are a few tips to make sure your book cover is as visually effective as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

I woke up 6 weeks ago sick and tired of all the end-of-the-world hype surrounding the ending of the Mayan Calendar and decided to do something about it. So I created the I Survived 2012 Daily Journal to prompt people to live life through significant acts rather than living in fear of some future date that may or may not happen.

Whether you believe the world is coming to an end on 12/21/2012 or not is irrelevant. This date is now a world-wide phenomenon. People all over the world have made this date significant. The question is what significant days are you going to make for yourself. Watch the trailer to learn more and leave me a comment on what you think will happen in 2012.

If you want to have your own book trailer made, email me at phil@authorsonthenet.com to learn how. Happy Thanksgiving.

I just finished a book fair today for the Utah State Bar’s fall forum. At this fair, we had about 50 titles, most of which are mainstream books found at any bookstore. Intermixed with these titles were three independently published books and one of these books was the top seller.

Let me repeat: the top-selling book was an independently published book competing head-to-head with mainstream titles. In addition, the other two titles tied for second and third place. But even more importantly, these independently published titles had the most hits by customers, which means of all the titles, these books were picked up and reviewed.

The reason these books did so well (and they are consistently doing well in the book fairs each day) is that they have excellent titles, professional book covers and they hit a nerve in the marketplace. As far as content, I’d say they are on equal footing with the mainstream books.

Independent authors can create high-quality books, but corners cannot be cut. It costs money to have a professional cover designed and to have your book edited by an expert. And you need to be in tune with current trends and hot topics and then use self-publishing as a way to get your book to market quickly.

Successful books follow a formula and successful authors follow this formula:

Write a timely book
Know your target audience
Create a professional book
Get the most distribution you can
Develop a marketing plan
And then actively Sell, Sell and Sell some more

I was very encouraged with today’s results.

When I consult authors on the best way to publish their books, i.e. Royalty Pulishing, Self-Publishing or Print-On-Demand publishing, I often recommend them to take a look at CreateSpace, BookSurge and Lulu if they are going the Print-On-Demand route. However, it is often difficult to explain why the author should look at both CreateSpace and BookSurge as both companies are owned by Amazon and basically do the same things.

Today I received an email from BookSurge announcing the merger between CreateSpace and BookSurge. I think this is a good move and makes the job of choosing which company to publish with easier. I have used BookSurge for one of my books and was overall very pleased with my experience.

Here’s the message I received:

We have some exciting news to share - BookSurge is becoming CreateSpace. BookSurge and CreateSpace have historically operated as two distinct brands of one company - On-Demand Publishing LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. - and are now uniting on the CreateSpace platform and brand to offer you an expanded catalog of publishing tools and services. You will still be working with the same team and receive the same high level of service to which you’ve been accustomed with BookSurge.

During the coming months, we will be transitioning all BookSurge accounts to CreateSpace and retiring the BookSurge brand. In addition, BookSurge’s self-publishing services are now available on the CreateSpace platform, enabling BookSurge and CreateSpace members to benefit from the same knowledgeable staff that has supported BookSurge authors for years.
What does this mean for you? Read the rest of this entry »

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Rowena Cherry, author of Insufficient Mating Materialand the third place winner of the Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest. Rowena generated over 6,100 page hits and 756 votes to grab the third place prize and winning lifetime membership to The Author Platform.

About the Book

Insufficient Mating Material is not about sexual shortcomings. It’s “Survivorman” with sex. At the dramatic climax of FORCED MATE, the high-handed Prince Tarrant-Arragon decreed that his scandalous, fashionista sister (the one who made a film of herself having sex with an unsuitable and dangerous stranger) should become the liability wife of his defeated political rival. Further, the rival must undergo enforced, identity-changing surgery, be renamed Djetth, and must vow never to tell the indiscreet Princess Marsh that he was her last lover. What Tarrant-Arragon does not know is that Djetth has a distinctive tattoo that only his lovers have seen. The Royal shotgun wedding does not go off without a hitch. When Princess Marsh sees the tortured condition that her groom appears to be in as he limps up the aisle to marry her, she decides that she is not going to go through with a marriage to this poor substitute –as she thinks– for the best lover she’s ever had, and telekinetically hurls Prince Djetth onto his emaciated rump without touching him. Someone in the royal household decides that this embarrassing couple must die. Tarrant-Arragon maroons the unhappy (unmarried) couple on a sub-tropical island on the alien planet An’Koor until his sister learns to appreciate a male who knows his way around the sharp end of a hunting knife… not realizing that he’s set them up as sitting ducks for a killer.

Click here to listen to Rowena talk about her book and how she generated so many votes on the Wake Up Celebrity Author contest. Listen to Author Blasts show now.

http://authorsonthenet.com/audio/rowenacherrypodcastfinal.mp3

To buy a copy of Insufficient Mating Material, click here.

Note: depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this file may take a few minutes to download. You can also download the interview through itunes. To subscribe to this podcast, go to the itunes store, click on podcasts and search for “Authors On The Net.” Subscribe and you will receive our podcasts directly to your itunes.

Author Blasts is the Authors On The Net Podcast. If you are a member of AON and you have a book, we would like to interview you. Simply send us an email at info@authorsonthenet.com.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it We are also interested in speaking with publishers, distributors, book designers, editors and other people who have a publishing or book promotion message.

http://www.authorsonthenet.com/component/option,com_jd-wp/Itemid,84/p,284/ to listen to Kurt Behm’s interview, first place winner of the Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest.

Click here to listen to Jared Lopatin’s interview, second place winner of the Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest.

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Jared Lopatin, author of Rising Signand the second place winner of the Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest. Jared generated over 9,400 page hits and 1,643 votes to grab the second place prize and getting his book into over 40 book fairs in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Rising Sign is the first novel in the Star Child Trilogy, and heralds the birth of the Star Child, the only one who can protect the universe from a deadly threat. On a seemingly ordinary day in Philadelphia, an unwelcome visitor awakens Tim Dalis to the Star Child’s world, a world of astrological power. As decreed by prophecy, he is one of the twelve guardians of the Child. Now, as time ticks down to the fated birth, he has to find other guardians, locate and protect the Star Child, and avoid a powerful enemy who seeks to destroy any chance of success.

Click here to listen to Jared talk about his book and how he generated so many votes on the Wake Up Celebrity Author contest. Listen to Author Blasts show now.

http://authorsonthenet.com/audio/JaredLopatinfinal.mp3

To buy a copy of Rising Sign, click here.

Note: depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this file may take a few minutes to download. You can also download the interview through itunes. To subscribe to this podcast, go to the itunes store, click on podcasts and search for “Authors On The Net.” Subscribe and you will receive our podcasts directly to your itunes.

Author Blasts is the Authors On The Net Podcast. If you are a member of AON and you have a book, we would like to interview you. Simply send us an email at info@authorsonthenet.com.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it We are also interested in speaking with publishers, distributors, book designers, editors and other people who have a publishing or book promotion message.

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Kurt Philip Behm, author of The Death of the Playground and the grand prize winner of the Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest. Kurt generated over 17,000 page hits and 2,100 votes to grab the grand prize of becoming the next Wake Up Celebrity Author best seller.

The Death of the Playground explores how kids once learned vital skills on unsupervised playgrounds. Kids were allowed the freedom to interact with their peers, their superiors and their inferiors and learn important skills of people management and how to survive in a competitive world. Listen in as Kurt discusses the premise of his book and why his message is relevant to today’s youths and parents. And be sure to pick up a copy of Kurt’s book by clicking here.

Click here to download and listen to the podcast. Listen to Author Blasts show now.

http://authorsonthenet.com/audio/kurtbehmbookpodcastfinal.mp3

Note: depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this file may take a few minutes to download. You can also download the interview through itunes. To subscribe to this podcast, go to the itunes store, click on podcasts and search for “Authors On The Net.” Subscribe and you will receive our podcasts directly to your itunes.

Author Blasts is the Authors On The Net Podcast. If you are a member of AON and you have a book, we would like to interview you. Simply send us an email at info@authorsonthenet.com.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it We are also interested in speaking with publishers, distributors, book designers, editors and other people who have a publishing or book promotion message.

Book contests are great ways to gain recognition for your writing and help you promote your books. We just concluded our book promotion contest at www.WakeUpCelebrityAuthor.com and are quite pleased with the results the authors received by participating. We are currently interviewing the winners and will have their podcasts up shortly.

While the Wake Up Celebrity Author contest is a great contest to get out and promote your book, many other contests focus on giving recognition to the writing style and content of a book. Here is one you might want to participate in:

Short Short Story Competition
The Writer’s Digest 10th Annual Short Short Story Competition

We’re looking for fiction that’s bold, brilliant…but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.

But don’t be too long about it—the deadline is Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

PRIZES
First Place: $3,000
Second Place: $1,500
Third Place: $500
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer’s Digest Books

* The names and story titles of the First-through Tenth-Place winners will be printed in the May/June 2010 Writer’s Digest, and winners will receive the 2010 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market and Agents, Editors, and You: The Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Plus, all First through 25th place winners will receive a free copy of the 10th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection.

Click here to register

Print-on-demand (POD) technology allows for the printing of books as they are ordered, without warehousing, storage or startup costs. Books are printed with the same quality and professionalism that you would see in any traditionally published book. Instead of having hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of copies stored in a warehouse, POD printers can provide books more efficiently with less waste.

In this webinar, you will hear how two users, Conceptual Product Development and Healthy Exchanges, are leveraging digital technology to both grow their business and deliver books that do everything from supporting a quality and healthy lifestyle to educating children. They will share with you how they are doing it and why it’s just smart business.
Come to this session armed with your questions about printing books on demand. You’ll be able to submit questions directly to all of our panelists for a live Q&A session during the hour.

Sponsored by RISO

For more information and to register, click here.

Can’t make it on October 15? No problem! Printing Impressions Group webinars are archived for 90 days after the live event. Click here to register and get access to this webinar on-demand.

When you buy a common paper back book and flip to the end you often see sales pages. These pages have pictures of other books you may be interested in as well as order forms.

When we print books for authors, I recommend the authors include an order form at the end of their book. This order form can be to order more copies of the book the person is reading or other books the authors has written or both. If you book is non-fiction and a senior VP of a company reads it, he or she may want to buy copies for the rest of the company. This works equally well for fiction books as a reader may order copies to give away at Christmas.

Another good idea is to include your website in the footer of every page of your book.

These are two simple ways to drive more revenue your way. Remember, it’s always easier to see to your existing customers than to new customers.

I selected today’s article for two reasons. First, the article highlights the importance of doing some up-front research before you write your book and second, the internet is more than just a place to sell your book; it’s a powerful tool to use before you write your book and while you are writing your book.

One distinguishing characteristic of a mainstream published book and a self-published book is level of research. Self-published books tend to be more auto-biographical - based on the author’s personal experiences - while published books tend to have more research behind them. Think about all the research Dan Brown and Tom Clancy do for their books. In addition, best-selling non-fiction books use case studies from real companies, data and other research to back up their premises.

New Writer - Tips to Research Your Self Published Book on Google Before You Write It
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Paul_Godines]Paul Godines

New writers have often been the cause of some of their own failures when trying to sell their own self-published book. Unlike what many people believe, it takes some well thought-out planning when deciding what to write if you want to be a successful author.

To begin with there’s keywords, market saturation, traffic, conversion rates, graphics and a dozen other basic pieces of information that needs to be considered before you write anything other than the title and a short overview. Read the rest of this entry »

The 10th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition is accepting entries! We’re looking for fiction that’s bold, brilliant … but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or less. But don’t be too long about it—the deadline is December 1, 2009.

The Grand-Prize winner will receive $3,000 (that’s $2—or more—per word).

For guidelines, prizes and to enter online, click here.