Lightbulb!

I am always surprised when people say something won’t work. Been hearing this about Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads for a while. Here are a few key things everyone should remember.

1.  You only get out what you put in.
2.  Nothing is easy.
3.  You get what you pay for.

They are all pretty much the same thing, but roll into one giant idea. All three of those networks sell books. FOR SURE. I can track numerous sales to my activity on all three networks. How? Interaction. I give away books on all three. I have thousands of friends, followers, buddies, whatever, on all of them.

When I first starting networking years ago, I was happy with 100 of my closest friends and family, until I realized I wasn’t selling any books. At some point I had a moment…”Lightbulb!” –Gru

I wasn’t getting anything out of any of those because I wasn’t putting anything into. I decided to give it a three month effort and see what happened. So I began upping my friends, etc. As my followers increased, I started a huge rise in my sales. Now when I say huge, I mean from ZERO sales to 4 or 5. I know, it isn’t much, but 4 or 5 after two years of zip, nothing, nada…I was tickled. So I kept at it. Then I started having months where I was selling dozens of books and stories. Holy crap…could it be?

Now keep in mind, these were my ONLY forms of promotion…period. It could be nothing else. So I ramped it up a bit more. So at this point, about 6 months later, I was hitting triple digits on some of my books/stories. Lesson? IT TAKES EFFORT.

Don’t say nobody on Facebook cares what you had for dinner. I have people ask.

Don’t say the senseless chatter on Twitter is of interest to anyone. I have a couple people who REMIND me when it is time to go get my hair done so I can post the pics of my new dos. Seriously.

And as far as GoodReads goes…it is a site for READERS. Seriously folks, they are LOOKING for books to buy and the key search function on GoodReads is Amazon.com. This must click somewhere for someone. The more people you interact with the better your chances of selling them a book or two.

Last example. Yesterday, I posted a recommendation on GoodReads to go buy our new Steampunk anthology, “Her Majesty’s Mysterious Conveyance.” Within ten minutes we had sold five Kindle downloads. Coinkidink? I think not.

Good promo doesn’t have to be expensive, but it will take time and effort, and often that time is far more valuable than money.

Good Money Gone Where?

Okay, I had a couple authors come to me today and ask about advertising and what to pay and where. Let’s clarify a few things. I am not one for flushing money down the toilet.

Promotion: the act of furthering the growth or development of something; especially: the furtherance of the acceptance and sale of merchandise through advertising, publicity, or discounting

Advertising: the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements

Publicity: a: an act or device designed to attract public interest; specifically: information with news value issued as a means of gaining public attention or support

b: the dissemination of information or promotional material

c: paid advertising

As an author it is imperative that you do something. If you do a combination of either of the latter two, you are automatically doing the first. It simply isn’t feasible or sane to think you can sell books without doing something, whether you pay for it or not.

The question is, when do you do what? I have some strong opinions on this and you can take them or leave them.

I am not a huge fan of advertising on the whole, but there are situations when I think you can get some value from paying to be seen. Newspapers/Magazines, not so much. Readers/consumers have become desensitized to advertising, so a general ad to sell books in a newspaper/magazine is useless because you are competing with beer, bras, boats, cars, houses, politicians, etc. Those are the things people expect to see and notice in the newspapers/magazines. Books probably don’t even garner a glance.

If you want to make an ad pay off for you, then make certain you focus on your specific market. The point in question today is, what is the benefit of advertising in a conference/convention program/newsletter? The answer is targeted marketing.

The people (consumers) who see the ad in a con program are at the con because they read/write/love books. It is simple. They will go through that program page by page to see what is in it and what they can do or get from that con. They want to get the biggest bang for their buck, just like us. Do you have to be at the con to benefit? No way. Sometime better if you are not. It takes the pressure off the consumer if they can’t buy right now. They don’t have to deal with the guilt.

As a rule, when I go to a con I use that program the entire time I am there. That means I open and close and peruse that thing a gazillion times over the course of 3 or 4 days. Each time I open it, I see the things printed in it, including the ads. Have I ever bought anything from a program ad? You bet. I have found books in a few by authors I never would have heard of had I not seen them and their books in the program.

How much is too much? This ad that brought up this question is costing each author $80.00. The ad will be seen by a minimum of 200 people, people who are actually looking. You figure that each of them may see the ad 3 times. This makes your price per view (600 views) .13333333 (and so on). To me, that is not bad. If you did a Facebook ad, you might be looking as high as .50 per view with no guaranteed views. Ads can be very expensive. Want to see if your heart is still beating? Check out the ad rates for Publishers Weekly. I’ve seen ad rates for con programs go as high as $1200 for a business card sized ad. I’ve seen higher, but my eye twitches to think about it.

I don’t do a lot of program ads, but I very carefully select the ones I do. The key is trial and error. Nothing happens overnight. If you are expecting to put an ad anywhere and see immediate results, then you are insane. I mean seriously insane.

Now, a quick note about publicity. This is generally free. How do you get publicity? You make news. What kind of news? Whatever kind you can. I have been criticized for saying this in the past, but go out and do something to make you look good. Self-serving? Hell yes, but it also serves a purpose. Here are some potential Press Release headers that might give you ideas.

*Local Author Serves Christmas Dinner to the Homeless*

*Teen Author Runs Half Marathon to Benefit Blood Cancer Research*

*Local Author Gives Writer Workshop at Local Middle School*

*Local Author Gives Free Writing Workshop at Local Library*

*Local Author Walks to Benefit American Heart Association*

Get the point? Sure, you may be doing those things just to get publicity, but this is a two-sided coin. Anything you do in your community (or any community) to get publicity probably also has a benefit to the community. I honestly believe it is okay to get something back if you are actually giving.

Organize a Chili Cook-Off at your church or YMCA. Get 20 friends to walk 10 miles and donate the pledges to a local charity. Spend a day at your local animal shelter on their adoption days. You are doing a public service and there is NOTHING wrong with writing a press release to let people know you are doing it, then have done it. It takes some effort, but we all know that what you give, you get back tenfold. Karma ain’t just a bitch, she can be kind.

Authors should be sending out at least one press release a month. The first few might not hit, but after they see your name and releases a few times, they will take notice. Just be patient and be active. Sitting back on your laurels will do nothing but make your butt spread wider.

Promotion is the key. How you do it is up to you, but if you want to sell books, you better be willing to do something, or you might as well grow rocks.

Just My Opinion

Okay, a funny thing happened to me the other day. I submitted a review to Amazon.com and it was rejected. You heard me, REJECTED! I was flabbergasted, flummoxed, furious…you get the point. I can’t even tell you how this has affected me. The worst thing is, I have no clear reason as to why it was rejected. I got a standard form letter that gave a couple of reasons, none of which my reviews falls into.

This came at a time when one of the groups I am in has been discussing this very thing, so I posted my review to the group, hoping for some insight. I got some. But I also heard a couple of people say that since I mentioned in the review that I was the publisher, they probably considered the review as advertising and that if they saw a review written by the publisher they would move on because it would be utterly meaningless to them as a reader (please note: I respect this person and their opinions very much and I am not in any way knocking them, just using their words as an example of what I have gotten from others.)

My question to you is, why is a publisher’s review any less valuable than anyone else’s? Shouldn’t it hold some weight since the publisher picked the book from possibly hundreds of others because it was better, stood out more, or more interesting than the others they could have published? Shouldn’t it matter that the publisher was willing and eager to put their time and money into that book, thereby giving it more value in their opinion? And isn’t a publisher simply a reader who cares enough to make other books available to others to read?

I want to know why reader would not care what a publisher thought of a book.

Now I am promoting, dang it. Click here to BUY NOW at Kindle. Only $.99

Below is the review I tried to post and the note I got from Amazon.com.

This review is from: Totally Buzzed (Miller Sisters Mystery) (Paperback)

If you haven’t been to White Bass Lake, WI and met the Miller sisters, you are really missing out.

There are times as a publisher that you wonder what you have gotten yourself into, this is one of those times, but for a different reason. “Totally Buzzed” by Gale Borger is totally kick-butt whimsical. The story is solid with a good plot and a nice little mystery, but it’s the characters that shine in this humorous romp. I am so glad I took a chance and published it.

You really have to wonder if murder should be so dang funny, but Gale knows her stuff and if you don’t laugh out loud as you are reading, you should have someone check your pulse.

The Miller family is so much like a normal family, you may just think you are related to them.

The first book in a series, this one is a real gem and I encourage everyone to read it, especially if your day hasn’t been so good. It’s a real pick-me-up.

Amazon’s Rejection:

• Written reviews must be at least 20 words long. The ideal length is 75 to 500 words.
• Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your experience with it. Feedback on the seller or your shipment experience should be provided at www.amazon.com/feedback.
• We do not allow profane or obscene content. This applies to adult products too.
• Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same point excessively are considered spam.
• Please do not include URLs external to Amazon or personally identifiable content in your review.

We welcome your honest opinion about products – positive or negative. We do not remove reviews because they are critical. We believe all helpful information can inform our customers’ buying decisions. If you have questions about the product or opinions that do not fit the review format, please feel free to use the Customer Discussions feature on the product page.

Drop and give me four!

Oh my gosh. I have been trying to read more Blogs lately, see what’s going on with the rest of the industry and other authors. I have seen a couple of names popping up in some of the same places as mine and I was more than a little annoyed with these people. Why, you ask? Of course you do!

Signature lines.

I know people consider signature lines a small thing, but not when they are 16 and 21 lines long. Seriously? Yes. That is the length of two sig lines that I keep seeing. In most cases, their sig lines are longer than their comments and in my opinion that is just rude. You may not care what I think, but consider other readers who look at all those lines and the fact that you felt the need to share every detail of your writing career with them on someone else’s Blog. Not cool, man.

After all these years on the Internet, I have discovered one thing holds true for almost all forums, groups, and the like. 4 lines. That’s FOUR max! In many cases, if you include more than 4 lines in your sig, moderators will delete your posts without them ever seeing the light of day. How do I know this? Experience.

Have you not learned from reading my blog that nearly everything I post about is based on my own personal experience?

So let’s be a little courteous to our fellow Bloggers and DROP those extra lines. Keep it simple. Need examples?

Karen L. Syed, President, Echelon Press LLC
http://www.echelonpress.com

or

Karen L. Syed, author of Devlin’s Wicked Wish
http://tinyurl.com/kls-dww-smash  (FREE)
Twitter: @echelonpress

or even

Karen L. Syed, President, Echelon Press LLC
http://www.echelonpress.com
author of Dark Shines My Love
http://tinyurl.com/kls-dsml-kindle

Click Cover to Dwnload FREE eBook

See how easy that is? If you are really clever you can turn your titles into buy links, but I like to use tinyurls in case there is a formatting issue, they can see what the links should be and I don’t miss out on potential sales. And it’s okay to make your sig lines a bit clever. After all, you are trying to attract people to t he information and clever works.

So here is your chance. Post your signature line in the comments here and at the end of the day I will choose the most cleverly implemented sig line and the winner will get a $5.00 Gift Certificate as my special Halloween treat (cause candy is bad for your teeth.)

So tell your friends to drop by this post for their chance to win.

If you can’t take the heat…

Well, my morning started off pretty good, and just took a nosedive into the crapper. What I am about to tell you should not upset me, it should not even matter to me, but it does…for so many reasons.

Yesterday I was directed to a Blog post by a relatively new author who is documenting the marketing journey. I read through the Blog and was impressed with the information the author shared. I did, however, notice a few things that were a little short on info. I took a little while and posted a comment. I did praise the author, but I also suggested a few things that I thought might be helpful, like adding the email contact to the Blog so people could contact the author without having to go through a public comment. I made a few other suggestions, nothing bad, nothing too serious, nothing out of line.

I went back in today to check on the blog and see what was new and I discovered that my post has been deleted. There was no moderation (I’m pretty sure the post went up straight away), it is just gone. The only posts left up are the posts that specifically praise the author. This makes me sad and it leads me to my point.

If you can’t take the heat in the publishing industry stop publishing books. If you don’t want people to post their true thoughts and comments on your Blog, then don’t Blog. I am certain there are things that should be deleted, but a helpful and supportive comment isn’t one of them…especially from a publisher (not just me, ANY publisher.

I am a publisher. I do have things to share, and some of them actually have some value. But I can tell you, after this, I will think long and hard before I share any suggestions or advice with others–even if I think it will help them. My husband often tells me I am too giving with my knowledge and experience and that I should just let people learn things themselves, the hard way, like I did. I am beginning to think he might be right. He says I will help anyone with anything, but when I need help, I always get the cold shoulder. I just tell him it is the way the business works. But today has made me realize that this is not how it should work. You get what you give and quite honestly, I’m kinda tired of giving and not getting anything back.

D.M. Anderson: I want to thank you for your comments this morning on my editing and to let you know how deeply they are appreciated. It makes this new bit of “life” a little easier to get past…in a minute…

You have earned a shameless plug for your book.

[OmniLit][Kindle][KindleUK][KindleGE][KindleFR]

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. You should read for yourself!

How Good Are you?

Howdy, been a while since I blogged so I thought I would pop in and open a discussion with a few questions. I’m posing these questions to authors who have books they are promoting (or supposed to be).

1. Has your website/Blog been updated within the last two weeks?

Seriously. People tend to visit their favorite websites every couple of days, or at least once a week. If you have not updated your site in more than two weeks, chances are those people will no t make a third trip back and you will be replaced with the “California Cows” website.

2. Have you finally added a SUBSCRIBE button to your website/Blog?

I don’t know about you, but my list of favorites on Internet Explorer is long and chaotic. I try to keep it organized, but that is not my strong suit. By adding a SUBSCRIBE or Follow button, you offer your readers a chance to find you with a lot more ease than having to sift through all the clever little sites (like: Army Wives) to try to find yours again.

3. Don’t you want readers to tell others about your website/Blog? Okay, so do you have a SHARE button on the upper screen of your site?

There are so many social networking sites out there now that it is just crazy for you not to encourage your readers to share the link to your website/Blog. Make it easy for them. This is all ab out exposure and I would be remiss if I did not tell you all to get out there and EXPOSE YOURSELF. I mean, not full frontal or anything, but in a big way.

The book industry is in a constant state of change and as authors and readers, we need to make every effort to keep up. Authors need to find new and creative ways to introduce their works to readers. With every book or story an author puts out, they need to be writing with one question in their mind: What makes this book stand out above the rest and how do I convey that to readers?

Readers, I beg of you, please be open-minded when you are browsing the bookshelves and online catalogs. Just because you have never heard of an author doesn’t mean they are not great at what they do. Variety is the spice of life and by opening your mind to new an exciting things, you may just come across a new favorite author, or two.

Tell you what. The first five people to post their thoughts on this Blog will get their choice of one of Echelon Press’ eBooks. You can check out our catalog by clicking on this link.

 

Writers Marketing Group Blog Exchange

If you aren’t Stephen King or Nora Roberts, chances are you’ll have to do much of your own promotional work on your own dime.  More and more authors are saving their dimes and scheduling blog book tours.  Some authors pay other people to arrange these things while others, like me and quite a few of my friends, arrange our own.  The difficult part is finding new websites to guest blog once you’ve hammered away a few times at each of your friends’ websites! 

Knowing that most authors run into this same predicament, I thought it might be a good idea to create a community where writers can network for the purpose of guest blogging and learning how to promote themselves inexpensively and cooperatively. 

That community is called the Writers Marketing Group (http://writersmarketinggroup.com/).  Several free services will be available to authors through this program.  The first one is The Writers Marketing Group Blog Exchange (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WMGBlogExchange/). 

The Writers Marketing Group Blog Exchange is a database of participating writers who are willing to host guest bloggers on a one-for-one exchange (you host them on your blog one day and they host you on their blog one day).  This means no more wasting time hunting for new venues to guest blog when you have a new book release or taking precious writing time to seek out new authors to guest blog on your site when you need them.  There are no fees, no charge to register, and you can use the database as much as you like.  

I hope you’ll consider joining The Writers Marketing Group Blog Exchange and help me spread the word to other writers – No matter what genre, from YA to erotica, we’ve got it covered.  While it is a Yahoo group, it is not a discussion list that will fill your mailbox or suck up your time.  I send a maximum of one email per week with guest blogging tips and special guest blogging opportunities passed on by members.  Just think of it as a really big tool in your promotional toolbox.

Please join now by going to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WMGBlogExchange/ 

Thanks for your time!

Lisa Pietsch
Follow my blog at http://www.LisaPietsch.com
Seven Souls-a-Leapingis now available from Sapphire Blue Publishing
Join the Writers Marketing Group Blog Exchange!