Review: ‘The Book Publisher’s Toolkit’ a helpful resource for independent publishers

The Book Publisher’s Toolkit: 10 Practical Pointers for Independent and Self Publishers by Independent Book Publishers Association

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What every self publisher want to know, and no longer have to hunt for: an eBook on practical book promotion tips straight from the IBPA(Independent Book Publishers Association).

If you’re like me, then you may have found helpful websites here and there to help you along your self publishing journey. But to have a gem in your hand that you can refer to for helpful tips is already here. Sure, it has tips we have all heard before like, “Get a Twitter account!”, “Be social” “Get involved in online conversations”
The real tokens were the advice of how other readers will perceive us and how to tap into the real magic of Twitter.

For example, “we have to watch what others tweet about”(11). Just posting tweets will no longer do. We have to watch what others are saying so we can jump in with our valuable advice. This goes for blogs, Facebook, and other social networking sites.

Librarians. Now these are a picky folk. Why? Libraries are run on budgeted dollars, so they will choose only what they would want to read and what patrons wouldn’t pick up as well. Some things librarians look for before they decide on your book:

•Blogs: What do bloggers have to say about your book?
•Patron Requests: Are people reaching out to have your book in the catalog?
•Cover Art: Is the cover art dynamic, unique, and pertains to the story?

Other advice in the book explained the importance of knowing your rights as an independent publisher and how to build your platform to enhance your brand or begin your brand.

Overall, it’s a neat little 57 page book filled with some items and advice we may have never thought of. Some tips we can even expand on.

*Book received for free for my unbiased review from Netgalley

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3 Great ways to get your self pubbed books noticed

We wish there were more self published authors that are striking gold and platinum in the news but there remains the very few who have made.

We wish even more that we make it ourselves. All of our time spent publishing on CreateSpace, Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu.com and other sites seem to be bringing in very little if any money at all. After working on self publishing my own books and reading some online articles, I find there are a few things that will keep you from popularity and/or earnings and these same few things can be your saving grace.

Having a Classic, but Unique Storyline.

Romance, romance, and more romance.. Guys won’t admit it but action flicks with love interests are cool too. According to Guardian’s report on books that earn well:

Romance authors earned 170% more than their peers, while authors in other genres fared much worse: science-fiction writers earned 38% of the $10,000 average, fantasy writers 32%, and literary fiction authors just 20% of the $10,000 average.

Networking…On the Networks.

Another blockage could be that you are not really talking about your book. If not you, then who? Personally, I don’t like having too many social media places to visit, yet its fun and addicting at the same time. One thing I do is frequently let people know that I have free items. I love free. You love free. We all enjoy free stuff. Why not offer free copies of your book? Make one of your shorter works free to download? Let people know on Facebook, G+, Pinterest, wherever. Hiring someone to do it for you is an option to although I prefer networking on my own. Yes, it can be time-consuming which is why you have to plan.

For instance, most days  I am writing or editing anyway. Blogging, social networking, etc. may be done only twice a week or once a week. Or maybe just take a half hour. Either way, I’m trying to network.

Editing, Copyediting, and Professional Looking Covers.

This is spoken from someone who doesn’t always have the professional money for “professionals” but if you would like to see more sells and downloads of your work, having a nice cover for your book and having your manuscript at least copyedited is a must. This will put you right up there with those high sellers of self pubbed books.

Confession: Before,  I found editing books from the public library very helpful until I could actually afford an editor for my books. You can practically Bing or Google freelance editors or try C.S. Lakin at livewritethrive.com-   I hope to work with her soon Lord willin’.

I hope this has encouraged you as a writer to write more. It is a tough world out there and publishing even tougher. Becoming a published author means facing keen competition and just know I am right here for you. I too am writing my heart out and have actually seen some of the benefits, but to have readers matters more than money.

Even though money is quite nice.

*Other article to consider: “Another Self pubbed Author Strikes Gold” http://thewriteweb.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/another-self-pubbed-author-strikes-the-gold/

Tracking an Author: Two free guides every self published author absolutely need

Here’s another day of book marketing while at the same time plotting around for my new novel. Its quite stressful wearing two hats but that is what comes with the job in writing and self publishing.

Anyhow, while on my writing and book marketing journey I had a little help along the way and it helps to get some tips from someone a little more experienced than you are just so you can avoid some pitfalls.

If you are self publishing and need to know the ins and outs of eBook creation. You should definitely give Mark Coker’s Formatting Style Guide a try. Mark Coker is creator of Smashwords, a platform for Indie(Independent) authors to create and upload eBooks- free! His books are always updated with the latest to help you clean up your manuscripts before submission anywhere.

I used his style guide and it helped me with all three of my books!

The second book I recommend, is his Book Marketing Guide. There are some helpful tips in there that I never thought of before and I am sure it will help you. there are tips on email signature creation, free places to get publicity on the web about your book and other tips you can do from home at minimum cost.

These are just two of the books that I suggest for traditional and self published authors. Again, it is hard self publishing because when I feel in the writing mode again- which I do, I have to think about my other “baby”- latest book # 3. But its okay its part of the career of writing. Let’s help one another by learning from one another.

*In addition, “Mark of Fortune’s” full length story featuring Stone of the Ice Rings will be coming out later this year. I hope you are as excited as I am!

Two different books, one tells the story, marketing uses story

Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I chose plenty of narratives and stories to read while curled up on the couch. The words were so inspiring and so real, it punches the soul and takes you to the place in Africa country, or African hearts in America.

The slave narratives, although gritty and real, provided words of encouragement for today. Words by Maria Stewart and “Old Elizabeth”

“I mourned sore like a dove and chattered forth my sorrow, moaning in the corners of the field, and under the fences.”

From Elizabeth(“Old Elizabeth”)[1863]- spent first thirty years in bondage in Maryland and at the age of forty-two began preaching career.

This is just a piece of the intelligent, soulful writing from women in the past. This is why the book received five stars from me and I hope others sample more from this book of biblical proportions.

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StoryBranding: Creating Stand-Out Brands Through The Power of Story by Jim Signorelli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As someone who writes stories and is interested in how to market brands for others, Jim Signorelli’s book, StoryBranding is right on time and because there was just so much information, I decided to focus on a couple of real key items which unlocked my perspective some on the brand marketing idea.

First, Jim Signorelli’s definition of a story goes like this: “A narrative about a character dealing with some obstacle to achieve some important goal” (p.31) With this in mind he tells us that both prospects and brands have an obstacle to cross and the barrier can only be broken down once we know the prospect’s inner and outer layer and the brand’s inner and outer layers. He brings on a bus load of examples of how to’s and what not to dos using McDonald’s, Denny’s, Oldsmobile and Old Spice as brands to study.

Second, Signorelli offers a review of basic principles at the end of each chapter so it sort of clarifies things for you if you’re feeling overwhelmed or just a simple study guide.
The downside could be the simple misspellings found in the book, but then again, it was an uncorrected proof and is probably fixed at this time.

If you’re looking for a book which cajoles you to think outside of the box and if you are reading to try your creative minds in learning how to tell a story, the marketing communications way, the this book is definitely for you.

Book Details:
StoryBranding
Author: Jim Signorelli
Published: Greenleaf Book Group Press(2012)
ISBN: 978-1-60832-145-2
228p

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The Death of an (online) Salesman…Wanting to promote but don’t want to become a spammer?

When someone came to your door holding books, or a flyer, and donned a clean starched business suit, or had on perfectly done makeup and told you you can look like this too if you sold these cosmetics and made lots of dough, the first thing that probably popped into your mind was: “Oh, darn it, I should have closed the door!” But usually you would offer a seat, have them sit down, and you casually spoke with the salesperson to see exactly what it was they had to offer. If you did not like it you simply said no thank you and ushered them out of your home.

There was another way people sold products. Outside. At the mall. Hanging up business posters and flyers. Trade conventions and so on.

But still there is another medium or platform where people can sell…online. But there is one problem. Or should I say, a few problems:

-Nitpicky people

-People who don’t know what spamming truly is

-The loss of the ability to socialize and promote without provoking.

First of all, when I socialize on Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else, I am usually looking to enhance my “online friendships” with the hidden objective to sell. I actually have enough friends and I figure we will never be invited to each other’s home offline anyhow so I really don’t wish to fake the funk. Although in the meanwhile I do meet pretty cool people. But when I want to promote a really good offer(since I am a business person), I should not have to worry about sensitive people saying I “spammed them”-I’ve never done that. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines spamming as” sending unwanted emails to someone” okay, fine. But while I am socializing I am seeing if my business could help your business or can you at least check it out? Or just say ‘no thanks?

Unfortunately for me and my husband we are learning that sometimes you can’t promote to people or anything else for that matter. Read my horror story to find out about mine. His, well, is much worse. To make a long story extremely short, he joined this site and wanted to share some awesome artworks with the established community. He read the guidelines, shared comments about each person’s photos, and then…uh oh, emailed someone that he liked their artwork and shared a link to our business.

Well, they locked him out of his account.

Here’s my thing. I think this is going too far. If someone wants me to check out their business or product, then I will if I have the time. I found an awesome recording artist because I spent all of five seconds clicking on her link and hearing her music now I have her CDs! I mean is it really that bad?

So for those of you who wish not get locked out because you want to shamelessly promote, here is what I suggest:

-Remain faithful to social networking. It is a great medium to rekindle old friendships and make awesome online buddies.

-If you really must promote when you visit websites, just leave your name with your business website. For example when you sign up to join a website, mention in your profile about your business, this could simply mean putting the url to your business on said profile.

-While socializing on the net, socialize about 90% and do 10% promotions, or whichever higher socializing percentage you can take. This means be “kind” and talk about fluff and clouds, share baby pics, etc. But sneakily throw in a great deal or offer they may want to check out.

-People love free stuff. Offer that more often. They wouldn’t tattle tell that you’re  a spammer then!

That’s all I have for now. The salesman isn’t dying, he’s just cooking up Spam.