Self Published Author | Category

Four Simple, Free Ways to Sell More Books

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Oct 3, 2023

Most authors with whom I speak are frustrated with their inability to get distribution to bookstores or generate any significant book sales. If you are one of them, there are four things you can do immediately to open your gateway to success. They are simple to do, cost nothing and will demonstrate to everyone in the publishing industry that you are Category Five marketing force.

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To Sell More Books, Think Like Warren Buffett

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Sep 26, 2023

How can people invest their book-marketing time, money and skills most effectively? I wanted to find the most complete and accurate answer, so I decided to consult a higher power: Warren Buffett. After all, Mr. Buffett is the ultimate value investor. I know the Oracle of Omaha is not a book marketer, but some of his investment strategies are remarkably applicable to book marketing — even if he never intended the connection. The book, The Warren Buffett Book of Investing Wisdom, edited by Robert L. Bloch, lists many Buffettisms about investing. Here are some that seemed remarkably applicable to investing in book marketing.

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Do You Have The Write Stuff?

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Sep 19, 2023

Becoming a success (as you have defined it) in book publishing is more an art than a science. You can learn all the right things to do, but the application of those actions is different for every situation, person, book and target buyer. One key to moving continuously in the right direction on your path is to have a strong belief in yourself. In other words, become DEAR to yourself.

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Four Steps to Greater Profits

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Sep 12, 2023

Publishers want to increase sales with new books and new ways to market them. Yet in practice they wait for authors to submit manuscripts and then sell the published books through bookstores and online. The quest for innovation is lost to habit and tradition.

It doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be that way. There is a reliable, systematic process for developing new, different and more successful ways to publish profitably and simultaneously grow your business. The objective is to close the growth gap — the area between where you are now and where you want to be. There are four basic steps in this process.

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How Non-Bookstore Marketing Is Different from Trade Marketing

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Sep 5, 2023

You are familiar with the process of selling books through bookstores, bricks and clicks. But there is another way to sell books, and it could be more profitable for you. That is special-sales marketing — also called non-bookstore marketing or non-traditional marketing. It is the process of selling books to buyers other than through bookstores.

Special-sales marketing is divided into two areas: retail and non-retail. Examples of special retail markets are discount stores, warehouse clubs, airport stores, gift shops, supermarkets, etc. Non-retail opportunities may be found among buyers in corporations, associations, schools and the military. ¹

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Optimizing Amazon for Better Book Sales: 7 Things You Can Do

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Aug 29, 2023

When you look at your Amazon strategy, the question you need to ask yourself is “how can I make a shopper click the ‘buy’ button?”

This isn’t always easy or straightforward, but what isn’t going to help is putting your book on Amazon and hoping for the best. The reality is that Amazon isn’t going to do the heavy lifting for you. The platform has little to no incentive to promote your book.

It comes down to you doing the research and putting in the work. Here are seven things you can do on Amazon to reach more potential readers and, hopefully, sell more books.

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Is Copyright Notice Required on Your Work to Protect Your Copyright?

by Digi-Rights
Bowker | Tue Aug 22, 2023

CopyrightTips from experts* at CopyrightsNow.com

Copyrights and Notice* on your work…

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture… and includes your text (i.e., story), images, photos, illustrations and audio/visual elements within the work.

A copyright notice lets the public know that a work is protected under copyright law and may not be copied, published, disseminated, displayed, performed, or played without permission of the copyright holder(s) except in accordance with fair use or licensed agreement.

While a notice is optional for works created after March 1, 1989, it is a good idea to place a notice on the work to indicate your claim of rights in the work.

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The Most Overlooked Step in Book Selling

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Aug 15, 2023

Negotiating a large-quantity sale can be a rewarding process. If you do a good job describing how your content can help prospects solve business problems, they sign on the dotted line and become customers. However, the euphoria of knowing you will soon receive tens of thousands of dollars could blind you to the job that still needs to be done.

Your objective is not to simply get the order, but to make sure that the sale is implemented flawlessly through the timely delivery of your books. Competent post-sale service makes for a satisfying experience, leading to future orders and recurring revenue. Yet this step is often given cursory attention as the publisher moves on to the next prospect.

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Connecting with Readers on Goodreads, and Getting More Reviews

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Aug 8, 2023

Connecting with readers and promoting your books couldn’t be easier on Goodreads. If you’ve given up Goodreads to follow the latest trends (probably BookTok on TikTok), then I encourage you to think again.

Why? Because in 2013, Amazon bought Goodreads and grew its users from 10 million to over 125 million. And the company is taking reviews from Goodreads and adding them into Amazon shopping.

Plus, this remains the top social platform for readers to connect with authors. Your readers are there and they’re ready for you. How can you show up for them?

Defining your Target Reader Audience

The first step in connecting with readers on Goodreads is to find and define the target audience. This likely sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed how many authors don’t start here.

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Are Separate Copyrights Needed to Protect Your Story and Illustrations?

by Digi-Rights
Bowker | Tue Aug 1, 2023

CopyrightTips from experts* at CopyrightsNow.com

Can one copyright protect your text, illustrations and photos?
The answer depends on who owns the rights to each element.

Copyrights can be confusing – especially if you have content elements in your book created by different creators or authors.

If you own all rights to the story (i.e., text) and illustrations, art and/or photos and they are packaged as one Work, then you can protect these elements on
one copyright application as your ‘Author Contribution’ (see Fig 1).

Fig 1: Sample screenshot of Author Contribution for ‘Text’, ‘Art’ and ‘Photos’

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