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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.

Steps in Marketing & Publicity

  • How to craft your message
  • Social media
  • Search engine optimization
  • Go local
 

How to Turn Publicity into Profits – Part Two: Writing Body Text That Keeps People Reading

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue May 22, 2018

(This is the second of a two-part series)

You can generate more publicity, sell more books and become more profitable if you follow several simple techniques for writing promotional material sent to business buyers. These are people in corporations, associations, schools and other non-retail organizations. 

Part One in this two-part series described writing attention-grabbing headlines. Part Two tells how to write body copy that keeps the reader through your communication. Once you hook the readers with your headline, you must deliver on their expectations or they will stop reading immediately. Use the body of your press release to continue the momentum started with the headline and get the readers to take the action you recommend. 

Inside Publishing
Writing
Marketing & Publicity
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How to Turn Publicity into Profits – Part One: Writing Attention-Grabbing Headlines

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue May 15, 2018

(This is the first part of a two-part series)

You can generate more publicity, sell more books and become more profitable if you follow several simple techniques for writing press releases. This is particularly true when communicating with buyers in niche segments such as corporations, associations, schools and the military. Part One in this two-part series describes writing the headlines, and Part Two tells how to write body copy that leads the reader through your release.

Publicity is the least expensive and perhaps most productive of the promotional strategies publishers use to generate exposure for their books. And a press release is the tool most commonly used to stimulate publicity. However, too many publishers' press releases go unheeded because the publicity copywriters make one major mistake – they write their press releases about their books. 

Inside Publishing
Writing
Marketing & Publicity
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The Least Important Selling Feature

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue May 1, 2018

Have you heard of Abraham Maslow’s Need Hierarchy? It describes a pyramid of needs through which people move as they are motived to fulfill unmet needs. The foundation is made up of the very basic needs (security, food, etc) and people advance ultimately to self-actualization. 

Did you ever think about how this same concept applies to the business-to-business (B2B) buying process in which you can make large, corporate sales of your book? B2B buyers begin the purchasing process with objective criteria (prices and specification), but quickly move through underlying, subjective influences on the decisions. These levels of influence on the buying decision can be demonstrated in The Value Pyramid.

Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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Misunderstood Marketing

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Apr 24, 2018

 
One of the most misused words in the publishing business is marketing. Some people think selling is marketing, but it is not. Others think publishing is marketing, but it is not. Marketing is a distinct business philosophy that, if understood and applied properly, can help your business become more profitable.
 
There are four competing concepts under which publishing companies can conduct their marketing activities. These are the Publishing Concept, the Product Concept, the Selling Concept and the Marketing Concept.
 
The Publishing Concept holds that consumers will favor those titles that are widely available and low in cost. These mass-market publishers concentrate on achieving high production efficiency and wide distribution.
 
Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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How to Sell More Books This Year

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Apr 17, 2018

 
As indie authors, we all want to sell more books. And so, I want to share with you several ways that you can make the most of your book promotion efforts. As I’m sure you’ve learned a successful book marketing plan is made up of a range of actions that build on one another, and it’s wise to vary your efforts to get the most bang for your investment – whether its time or money, or a combination thereof. So with this in mind, here are some of the top ways that you can sell more books this year.  
 
1. Be consistent: Whatever you do, do it consistently. So often indie authors try to do more than their time and bandwidth allow.  Fix this by picking the things you know you can do consistently and forgetting the rest. Trust me, you will make greater strides if you remain consistent in your efforts. 
 
Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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Why Attention Matters, Now More than Ever! (and how to get it)

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Mar 27, 2018

 
It’s a fact of life. As you read this sentence, I have already begun to lose you and your attention. Maybe you’re thinking about dinner. Or your dog. Or what your kids are doing way too quietly in the other room. Now, let me try and get you back. On average, we have an 8-second attention span. And since goldfish have an average attention span of 9 seconds, they’ve surpassed us. 
 
Do I have your attention now? 
 
Attention is now the hottest commodity that you need to be after. If you can’t get and keep someone’s attention, you’ve lost the opportunity to close the sale. So what does that have to do with you? Well, if you look at most people’s pitches these days, you’ll see something repeatedly. They follow a stale format. By leading with a long, overly detailed backstory, they meander along for a paragraph or two, before coming to a point. 
 
Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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7 Book Marketing Trends That Are Changing This Year

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Mar 20, 2018

The world of book marketing is moving and shaking, and as with all things, change is inevitable. Part of my job is to embrace change and ensure that we are on the front edge of book marketing trends so that we can be the most effective marketing team for our clients. And although changes don’t mean the “old ideas” no longer work, it does mean that there are some exciting new ways to do things. So with that said, I’d like to share these 7 changes you can expect to see this year.

Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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Take the "Junk" out of Direct Mail

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Mar 6, 2018

Direct mail has been given a bad reputation because of overuse and poorly designed mailing pieces. People tend to perceive direct mail as junk mail, and its Internet equivalent as spam.

However, when you have a finite, identifiable group of people who are potential customers for your books, direct mail may be the most effective and efficient marketing tool you can use to reach them. It gives you control of the timing, delivery and content of your promotion, a pre-determined fixed cost and the means to forecast and measure the return on your marketing investment.

Unfortunately, direct marketing is too often implemented simply by purchasing a mailing list and then sending an existing brochure. Unless you first prepare a plan, including a way to evaluate your relative success, you may end up wasting money and becoming disillusioned in the potential effectiveness of a strategic direct mail campaign.

Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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I Only Have "-ize" for You

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Feb 20, 2018

Many independent publishers use the Christopher Columbus method of planning. They do not know where they are going. When they arrive, they do not know where they are. And when they return, they do not know where they have been. This is not a good way to run a business.

Avoid this situation by writing a strategic, functional plan to market your books. Your plan should identify the most promising business opportunities. It should clarify your goals and the activities you will employ to move toward your objectives efficiently. For a view of a new planning formula, look through these "ize."

Recognize. A basic premise for successful marketing is to find a need and fill it. You do this by researching three major areas. First, discover what product opportunities exist. Second, learn the demographics and psychographics of your prospective customers. Finally, calculate your potential market's size, growth and competitive status.

Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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Goals are Worthless…

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Feb 13, 2018

Goals are the foundation of a solid marketing plan. They provide a target at which to aim, the standard against which you can gauge your company’s progress. They divide your vision statement into manageable steps and provide a path to its realization. And written goals provide a means for looking back to see how far you have come. 

If all these benefits of setting goals are true, how can goals be of no value? Goal-setting is a tool, and like any other tool it is useless if used incorrectly. Goals are worthless…

Inside Publishing
Marketing & Publicity
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  • Obtain ISBNs (click here!)
  • Convert your file to ebook (click here!)
  • Acquire a bar code (click here!)
  • Increase discovery (click here!)
  • Purchase a QR code (click here!)
  • Register your copyright (click here!)
  • Find out who you write like (click here!)
  • Promote your book online (click here!)

Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

Thu, November 13

FAQs about ISBNs

Fri, October 24

How to Write a Business Plan as Narrative (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, September 10

A Novel Planning Technique for Book Publishers (Part 1 of 2)

Fri, September 05

Do You Have the Write Stuff?

Wed, September 03

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