Authors On The Net

Found the Porn for Moms book trailer on the Chronicle Books website and had to share. It’s a simple, low-cost video that’s effective because it shows how people are reacting to the book. If you remember a few posts ago I blogged about being able to tell people is 140 characters or less not necessarily what your book about, but what people should expect from it, i.e. it will shock you, it will scare you, etc. This video does that:

And don’t forget to join our Wake Up Celebrity Author book contest. The deadline is September 15th.

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Richard S. Todd, author of Raincloud. A magazine writer and pop composer living near Toronto, Canada, Richard is a fervent champion for those fighting to overcome personal struggles and making choices to resist the perpetuation of racial isolation. Richard blogs frequently about his experiences self-publishing and in today’s interview, he shares his experiences and gives some good street-smart advice for authors.

Note: this is part II of a two-part podcast. In part I, Richard introduces us to his new book, Raincloud.

To buy a copy of Raincloud, click here.

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

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

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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 being a stop on Austin Camacho’s blog book tour. I asked Austin a few questions about his book and how he is promoting it. Here are his answers:

Announcing the release of Russian Roulette (buy at Amazon by clicking here), the fifth novel in Austin S. Camacho’s mystery series about Hannibal Jones, an African American private detective working in Washington DC.

Phil: What is your book about?

Austin: Like every good crime novel, this book is about deception. A Russian assassin threatens Hannibal’s woman to force him to take a case. He must investigate Gana, the wealthy Algerian who has stolen Viktoriya, the woman the assassin loves. Evidence connects Gana to Russian mob money and the apparent suicide of Viktoriya’s father. More deaths follow, each one closer to Viktoriya. To save the Russian beauty, Hannibal must unravel a complex tangle of clues and survive a dramatic shootout side-by-side with his murderous client.

Phil: Tell us about you.

Austin: On the surface I’m a public affairs specialist for the Defense Department who has written five detective novels in the Hannibal Jones series - Blood and Bone, Collateral Damage, The Troubleshooter, Damaged Goods and now Russian Roulette. I’m active in several writers’ organizations and teach writing courses at Anne Arundel Community College.

Inside I’m a philosopher and a teller of morality tales thinly disguised as mysteries or adventure stories. I’m also a husband and father, a flirt and a loudmouth, with a big heart and an even bigger ego. And I’m a hard-working marketing fool who wants every adult alive to read my novels. My manual, Successfully Marketing Your Fiction in the 21st Century is the result of those efforts.

I was born and raised in New York, spent my Army career as a broadcast journalist and now live in Springfield, Virginia with my lovely wife Denise and Princess the Wonder Cat.

Phil: Who is your target audience?

Austin: I started out thinking that hardboiled detective fiction was for young men. However, the great majority of my readers are women between 30 and 60 years old, so I now write for them.

Phil: What are the 5 top marketing tactics you would recommend to other authors?

Austin: My overall plan this year is to focus on creating buzz by working the internet. So my top marketing tactics are:

1. Blog Tour: This month I will appear on 16 of the best crime fiction and literary web sites (like this one) and the content varies – interviews, synopses, reviews by the blog owners, a real variety. The object is to make Russian Roulette part of the general conversation.

2. Reviews: the more the better. I sent books to the usual reviewers, but I also sent books to top Amazon.com reviewers. These people have a lot of credibility. The new twist was to offer a free advance copy to ANYONE who would commit to reviewing my book and posting their review in at least 4 places on line. Again, I want to raise awareness and generate conversation. Most of the amateur reviewers post on their own blogs but also on Amazon, BN.com, Dorothy L, Shelfari and other places readers look.

3. Video: I got a book trailer because it’s an easily passed calling card. But I also taped a promotional video for Russian Roulette in which I personally explain my book to the viewer. This personalizes me and helps readers connect with me. It hasn’t exactly become viral but it has gotten me a little better recognized. And I have posted these things EVERYWHERE!

4. Social Media: I’ve gathered an audience and post daily on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Gather, Friendster,Crimespace, Book place and Bebo. I also maintain a presence on Red room, Black Authors Showcase, Maverick Marketers, LinkedIn, Shelfari, and Goodreads. Aside from my own blog (Another Writer’s Life) I post on three group blogs – Criminal Minds at Work, Acme Authors and Make Mine Mystery. And did I mention the Hannibal Jones Yahoo Group? The idea is to stay connected with people and share your writing news.

5. Direct mail: I’ve never done the post card bit before, but to make it most likely to pay off I targeted the zip codes of the bookstores I’ll do signings in. And the mailing lists are of known mystery readers. Note that this is the most money I’ve spent on promotion and I have the least faith in its value but we’ll see how it goes.

I must tell you that I also went old school for visibility and got a couple print ads. After assessing my target audience I placed ads in Mystery Scene and Crimespree Magazine. Even if they don’t generate a lot of sales, they will be good for my ego when I’m at Bouchercon.

I also sent personal letters to each of the 47 bookstores in this country that specialize in mystery fiction informing them of the imminent release of Russian Roulette and respectfully asking (alright, begging them) to order a few copies. I even promised them a pizza party for their staff if they sell 50 or more copies. Yeah, I’m shameless.

As you can see, the top marketing efforts for me involve more time than money. When your book is ready to hit the shelves you need to think it through and do what will work for you. Keep good records so you’ll know what did pay off, and be careful of buying services that don’t come with guarantees.

GET the latest news about my novels at http://www.ascamacho.com
READ my blog at http://ascamacho.blogspot.com
JOIN the Hannibal Jones Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hannibaljones

If you want to learn more about running a complete social media book campaign visit The Author Platform.

I just discovered www.freado.com, a place to make a widget to make it easier to share your book on social media sites. The widget allows readers to flip pages and get a very good feel for a book before they decide to buy. Here’s what my widget looks like:

If not, you can find a lot of videos, podcasts and blogs by people who attended. Click on the link below to listen to a podcast with publicity expert Rick Frishman:

Rick Frishman BEA Podcast

In today’s article, Judy Leblanc tells how she gradually became a celebrity author. After spending a lot of time promoting her book, she began to have people contacting her. This is one key result we want as we promote our books using social media and other methods - people coming to us and not us banging down their doors. Here’s a quote from her article:

Then a funny thing happened. I began to get emails from people asking me if I would send them a copy of my book to review, a media kit or in some cases, even an interview. Not only that, I began to get invitations to attend book signing events, not from our traditional book stores, but from associations, or conferences. I also find it a lot easier now to call local bookstores to ask for a book signing. The great news is that they usually say yes, and as uncommon as this may seem, they don’t seem to have a problem with ordering a few extras to keep on the shelf.

How to Market Your Book on a Shoe-String Budget
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Judy_Azar_Leblanc]Judy Azar Leblanc

Who said strike-three and you’re out? Here’s how I beat the odds of going from a POD published author to a Multi-Award Winning Author with good sales, successful book signings, and a high internet profile.

I’ve been writing ever since I can remember; but my real enjoyment for it came to me when I was in college. Later, during the “career” years of my life, I wrote proposals for the US Government. After many years of being told what and how to write, I was so tired of writing, that I said “when I retire, I am going to throw away my ‘red’ pen and NEVER WRITE AGAIN”! Well, that lasted about 10 years. Then one day when my husband and I were living in a small beach town in the middle of Baja Mexico, I got the itch to start writing again. I said to myself, “now I can write what I love to write about and not what I’m told to write about.” That sounded like so much fun. Little did I know that it would be the beginning of a brand new career in not only writing, but in Marketing!

After I finished my first book, I struggled to find a publisher, especially while living in a foreign country that had not yet heard of computers or the internet. After spending a few years of sending copies of the manuscript via “snail-mail”, I did manage to get it published and that is as far as it ever got … published.

However, by the time 2006 rolled around, the small town I was living in finally got connected to cyberspace, and vualla 16 years later the outside world was now at my fingertips, my fourth book was now finished and I was actually able to go on-line to look for a publisher! But, because I was still living in a foreign country, my new challenge was “how in the world was I supposed to get the book marketed”? That was the beginning of my dependence on Google, and the birth of my on-line book-marketing. At first, I was completely lost and had no idea even where to begin.

I had already been duly warned against POD-publishing. You can’t get reviews, you can’t get shelf space, and you can’t get respect. Being naïve, I decided to completely ignore those warnings and just looked straight ahead. I signed up for book reading clubs, book marketing sites, and every single newsletter that pertained to books, authors, writing or anything that remotely looked like it was for authors or about books. From the information given on those newsletters, I was able to find several book reviewers that I could email and asked if they would like to review my book.

As they responded and the book reviews came in and were posted, I was able to make some marketing flyers to use for promotion. Once the reviews were built up, I was then able to start emailing the book sites that allow authors to promote their books. Most of the sites are no charge, while others charge a minimal fee of anywhere from $10-$25.00 for the inclusion. From there, I began to ask for author interviews at most of these sites. Because of the great reviews that the book received, and the positive response to author interviews, my confidence was built and I was now ready to start entering the book in the book contests. Each time the book would win an award, or would get an awesome review, I would send out a press release about it.

By this time, I had collected enough promotional material about the book to build a media kit which included flyers about the book awards, press releases, brochures, and the book, and more importantly ~ I was back in the USA!. Now I was able to look for places that gave television and radio interviews, then I either emailed or called them to ask if I could send them a media kit. This helped because as the responses came, I was able to make another promotional flyer to add to the media kit.

Then a funny thing happened. I began to get emails from people asking me if I would send them a copy of my book to review, a media kit or in some cases, even an interview. Not only that, I began to get invitations to attend book signing events, not from our traditional book stores, but from associations, or conferences. I also find it a lot easier now to call local bookstores to ask for a book signing. The great news is that they usually say yes, and as uncommon as this may seem, they don’t seem to have a problem with ordering a few extras to keep on the shelf.

I also try to attend most of the annual book festivals, book fairs and conferences throughout the area; and, now that the foundation is in place, the media kit and web page built, I am able to have the book represented at different book fairs throughout the country as well as some of the international book fairs.

I hope this is an encouragement to you, as I discovered that marketing your book is like building a house. A house is only as good as its foundation; and like a house, once your book has a good foundation, the rest is easier. It all takes time and effort. In the age of internet, the kind support from many good people, word of mouth, and with the unlimited resources of web marketing, you can do it too.

Here is a short list of some of the sites that I use for marketing tips, publishing tips, writing tips, places where you can get your book reviewed, contest listings, free author listings, free author interviews, and some great marketing newsletters. I hope they are as helpful to you as they have been for me. http://www.armchairinterviews.com

Award Winning Author Judy Azar LeBlanc was born in Raton, New Mexico, was raised and educated in Albuquerque, and is an Honored Member of the Cambridge Who’s Who, Toastmasters International and the East Texas Writing Guild. Her fourth and favorite title is Many Faces to Many Places. Judy is internationally published in the FONATUR Tourist Magazine, sponsored by the federal government of Mexico and is featured in the Xulon Press publications entitled God’s Rainbow Book, Praise Reports, and How I Met my True Love. Visit her website at http://www.manyfacestomanyplaces.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judy_Azar_Leblanc http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Market-Your-Book-on-a-Shoe-String-Budget&id=2425406

To learn more about promoting your books online, be sure to visit us at The Author Platform.

I’d say the price of a book is of moderate importance. Most books cost between $14.95 and $24.95. If a book I really want to read is $24.95 I’m going to buy it. I’d probably pay $49.95 if I had to and if I could buy the ebook version for $9.95 I’d buy that. The price is not a huge factor for me unless I think it’s a ridiculous price - like $49.95 for a paperback book.

The key factor for me is do I want to invest hours reading a particular book. I’m sure other people have other opinions, but this is the way I value a book, i.e. time rather than money.

Here is a more in-depth look at this question and I think at the root of the article is this issue of time investment. The key for book marketers: create real “need” for your book and understand that what readers are really investing is their time and the quality of your book, whether it be entertainment quality or “message” quality.

Click here to read the article, Worlds Beyond: You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Price Tag.

If you have a profile on Amazon and are using Amazon Connect and/or feeding your blog into your profile, then you may have received the following message from Amazon. I’m reprinting the message here for those who did not receive it as I think this new tool by Amazon could be a winner. I say “I think” because I haven’t seen my author page yet.

Once you go through the few simple steps, Amazon builds you a page and it takes about 7 days. If you have no idea what an Amazon Profile or Amazon Connect are, then sign up for The Author Platform and use the 15 day free trial to find out how to use Amazon to sell more books.

Here is the message I received:

As someone who has used AmazonConnect to blog to readers on Amazon, we’d like to introduce you to Amazon Author Central (beta). It’s a free service provided by Amazon to allow authors to reach more readers, promote books, and help build a better Amazon bookstore.

Author Central now houses the blog feature previously offered via AmazonConnect. In Author Central, you can post to your blog as usual, and you will also be able to update your bibliography and provide a photo and biography, which we’ll use to build an Author Page featuring you and your books. Our new Author Pages are designed to display all the information we have about an author in a well-organized, easy-to-locate place in our store. This includes blog content, which we are relocating from book detail pages to Author Pages. We think Author Pages are a great addition to our bookstore, because they give authors a way to reach more readers and also help customers find their favorite authors and discover new ones easily.

This will be an interesting tool to try out.

For two weeks in May I partnered with a local representative of a national company in Salt Lake City, Utah to have them display our new book, How To Become a Total Failure: The Ten Rules of Highly Unsuccessful People, in 14 book fairs. These fairs were held in corporate office buildings, corporate board rooms, hospitals, colleges, factories and a number of other venues. Here’s a video of the book fair held at the Utah One Center, a large office building in downtown Salt Lake City.

Bill and I were very pleased with the results and especially the feedback. For example, we sold 10 books at an Ikon factory and 0 books at a hospital. This is excellent market information. We will ramp up our efforts in the fall with better merchandising and some special offers and have a goal of selling 200 books.

If you want to participate, we are accepting up to 50 authors. We can only accommodate 50 authors per 20 book fairs as the company needs to keep its primary focus on the mainstream books it sells. It is also important that we place independent author books next to mainstream books as cross-promotion helps sell independent books.

If you are interested in this program, please email me at info@authorsonthenet.com We are accepting applications now for the fall book fairs that start the last week of August. The cost per 20 book fairs is $250.

Here’s another video of the book fair at the One Utah Center. In this video you will see that our book was first placed near the register. While at first this seemed like a great idea, in later shows we placed the book on tables with other self-improvement books and produced much better sales results.

Today I’m sharing with you an email (with permission) I received from one of our authors at Authors On The Net, John Haines. A few months ago I had the pleasure of podcasting John who lives on the northern tip of New Zealand. I wanted to share John’s email make two points:

1. The first point is the tactic he is using to encourage people to leave reviews for his book. When you read his message you’ll see the approach he took. Basically, he made it so easy for me to leave a review I couldn’t say no.

2. The second point is that John sent this “form” letter out to people he considers to be on his informal marketing team. He may not have labeled me as a member of his informal team, but by simply sending me his email, I have left my review for his book and am now sharing his message to the thousands of people who follow my blog.

So these are the two take-aways: make it easy for people to take action and find people to be on your informal team. Informal teams can be powerful. Here’s John’s message:

Phil,
I’m wondering if you can help me by writing a brief review on Amazon? Here’s a form letter I put together this morning:

Hi all and greetings from Aotearoa.

I have a dream. I have a dream of our world made whole again through the collective intentions and actions of us all. I have a dream of peace. Will you help me fulfil this dream?

Every time I present a talk in this area I sell a bunch of books. Sales of In Search of Simplicity in stores in New Zealand are strong and feedback, comments and reviews are excellent. But sales on Amazon.com have been slow to build. In some ways this is not surprising. With 400,000 new titles released each year why would someone risk buying a book from a relatively unknown author like me? Read the rest of this entry »