Marketing & Publicity

Good marketing is an art. Knowing your audience is critical. Get the word out about your book in a compelling and interesting way.

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How to craft your message
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Four Ways to Sell More Books

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Oct 6, 2015

Numerous studies over the years have concluded that people who are certain of their beliefs are more likely to buy, buy sooner and spend more. These findings can help you sell more of your books to corporate buyers.

Viscerally, it makes sense. You are probably more likely to make a purchase if you are confident that you are making the right choice. It is a gut feeling, a sense that you are doing the right thing that makes you comfortable plowing ahead. You can get your buyers to feel the same about you and your book, too. And you can do all that not by using advanced sales techniques, but by being objective, building consensus, reinforcing a positive message and building your credibility.

Objectivity. Buyers are naturally suspect of a salesperson’s pitch. They listen and evaluate your comments in real time. Your words reinforce their beliefs, and they become more confident in their decision – whether to buy or not to buy.

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Write Your Book. Build Your Tribe. Use Periscope.

by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Sep 29, 2015

In my Brand Your Expertise with a Book™ workshop I talk about creating content quickly, and this is another one of those great tools that can help you do that! As an award-winning publisher and award-winning author I get lots of questions on an almost hourly basis about the business of writing and publishing.

How do I put a book together? I have ideas and some written stuff, but nothing concrete as my topic.

This part is simpler than you think. First, when writing any book you have to start with the end in mind. What is the overall goal for your book? You should create your promise statement (aka mission statement) from the beginning so when you get confused with too much content or too little, you will know where to focus to pull it in. Your statement should have the following framework since the idea is to keep it short and sweet:

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Discovery: Another Buzzword We’re Wrestling to Understand

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Sep 8, 2015

When I was first in the industry, discovering a book was easy and pretty uncomplicated. Back then, publishing had seasons, and if you wanted readers to find the book, you stuck to the rules. Big books in the Fall; change-your-life titles in January; and summer reads, smaller books and fluff-type titles the rest of the year. Now, however, there are no hard and fast rules. Other than news or seasonal tie-ins, there’s little rhyme or reason to when a book is published. The landscape has changed, and we’re all just trying to figure out the rules.

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The Price is Right?

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Aug 25, 2015

Pricing your book properly may be the most important marketing decision you will make as a publisher. The price you choose will determine your sales, revenue, profits and opportunities for long-term growth. However, there is a big difference between pricing for sales through retail stores (including bookstores) and to non-retail buyers. You can improve your business significantly if you price your book correctly foe retail or business-to-business (B2B) sales.

Most publishers price their books for sale through retail stores, particularly bookstores (brick and clicks). They consider their costs (production, distribution, shipping, operations) and the desired profit, and then set the price. This is placed on the rear cover and included in al metadata. It tells consumers how much the publisher values the content, and it sets the point from which distribution discounts are calculated.

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3 Steps to Market Your Book 10 Times Better Than Before

by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Aug 11, 2015

Today, there are authors of every stripe, from those in time-honored fiction and non-fiction categories to business people and professionals who've learned that writing a quality book is essential to building their brand.

In 2012, Americans self-published more than 391,000 books, according to market research giant Bowker. That's a 400 percent increase since 2007. Also in 2012, traditional publishers released nearly 302,000 titles for a whopping total of nearly 700,000 new books. In one year! With the glut of new books being released each year, promoting just one can feel like a mission impossible.

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8 Facts about Business That Will Help You Publish Your Book

by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Aug 4, 2015

The SBA defines a small business as an enterprise having fewer than 500 employees. There are almost 28 million small businesses in the US and over 22 million are self-employed with no additional payroll or employees (these are called non-employers).

Did you know that by publishing your book, you are starting a small business as an author? It seems strange to many authors, but the changes in the publishing industry has made it both easier and harder to become a professional author- also called an authorpreneur. When starting a new business, it's important to know the current state of small business affairs and get a little help along the way.

The journey into authorpreneurship can seem daunting, but here are a few facts about starting a business that may help you along the way:

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Reinvent Your Publishing Company for Sustained Growth

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Jul 28, 2015

Reinvent Your Publishing Company for Sustained Growth
By Brian Jud

One difficulty that inhibits the growth of book-publishing companies is that they think of themselves as book-publishing companies, selling books through bookstores (bricks and clicks) and to perhaps to libraries. However, the advent of Amazon.com, ebooks, social media and more demanding customer expectations challenges that philosophy.

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3 Reasons Why You Can’t Publish Your Book Without Social Media

by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Jul 21, 2015

If you think this is another article pushing you to finally open up a social media account to promote your book- it is. I will go even further to say that you cannot publish your book without social media.

I know many heavy readers and scholarly type individuals who do not have time for social media. They cite the time wasting factor that everyone is turned into a voyeur, and finally that it doesn’t lead to sales anyway- so what’s the big deal. The truth is that establishing your presence on social media (and I’m including a personal website in my definition) is a critical step in publishing, marketing and selling your book. For all of the reasons listed above to not set it up and more!

Read on to find out what your readers want, and why you have to use social media to deliver.

1. Readers want to know you are real

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Re-Release and Reap the Benefits

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Jul 14, 2015

Here are four simple options for reviving book marketing – and sales!

1. Release it in eBook: This should be your first – and easiest – step. If a traditional house published your book, check if they have the rights to your digital content. Many old contracts don’t have this provision so be sure and check. What next? Most savvy eBook folks can work with a PDF of the book, and course, a Word doc works well, too. Just convert it to a digital format and you’re done! It’s pretty easy. If you do this, consider adding some new reviews as well.

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7 Things Publishers Wished Authors Knew

by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Jun 30, 2015

There are many things that publishers wish authors knew before they signed their contract or even submitted their books. I know that I have had a few head-scratching interactions with potential authors, from being told "I don't read books" to "I didn't know I could talk about my book". Here are 7 Things Publishers Wished Authors Knew, and sometimes are a little perturbed at having to explain:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/mkTW8AEcIGs]

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