Book award contests can be a great promotion tool for authors. When your book wins an award, you can promote yourself as an "award-winning author" and the book as an "award-winning book."
In addition, the award organizers often promote the winners and they usually provide some kind of a graphic (such as the one shown here) that you can use for promotional purposes.
My book, How to Get Your Book Reviewed, recently won an Indie Excellence award. The award was for the paperback version, but the book is also available in PDF, Kindle, and e-pub formats. Here are some of the things that I'm doing to promote this award:
Write a blog post about book awards.
Write an article in my newsletter about my award.
Add the award graphic to the book's sales page and the media page on my website.
List the award in the book description on my website, on Amazon and on the Nook site.
Add the words "award-winning author" to my bio.
Post a press release about the award on a free press release site.
Award competitions are held throughout the year, but the major ones tend to have entry deadlines in the December to April time frame. This article lists some of the most popular contests. The entry fees can really add up, so you'll need to be selective about which contests you enter and read the eligibility rules carefully. For example, some book award competitions accept only books published in the current year, and some do not accept e-books.
Now is the time to start researching and planning for book award contests to enter. And if you have won any awards, be sure to get maximum promotional benefit from them!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
7 Ways to Turn Your Blog Into a Content Marketing Machine
1. Blog a book.
If you map out the content for a book, and then write and publish it from scratch in post-sized bits (250-500 word pieces) on your blog, you will begin to drive your blog up in the search engine results pages and attract more readers as you write the first draft of your book. By posting often and consistently—2-7 days per week, you organically provide search engine optimization for your blog. This increases your blogged book’s discoverability in the search engines, like Google. This means when a potential reader, journalist, agent, or publisher searches for a topic related to you or your book, your blog may come up on that coveted first Google search engine results page.
2. Book your blog.
If you have been blogging for a while, your blog contains content that could fill a book. Create a content plan, but this time go back through your blog and find existing posts to fill out each chapter. You may need to write some additional content and edit the whole manuscript to make it flow and read like a book and not a blog.
When you are done, you can begin to promote the book on your blog. You could sell the book to readers or try to land a publishing deal. Or you could give your “booked blog” away as a marketing tool to gain more mailing list subscribers so you can market to them directly when your next book is released.
3. Blog about your book.
This is a more traditional use of an “author’s blog.” Simply find many topics related to your book to blog about. For nonfiction writers, this can seem simple; blog about your topic and everything related to that topic. Also tie into the news as it pertains to your topic. For fiction writers, consider every subject, theme, character, place, etc., in your story, and blog about that. Also tie into the news. This is a great way to drive your blog up in the search engine results pages and to help readers interested in your topics find you and your book.
4. Turn blog posts into ezine articles.
Take your best and most informative blog posts and rewrite them (at least 20-40 percent) into 500-word articles. Then post them on Ezinearticle.com or any other ezine article site. When you do this, you make them available to anyone who needs content on their own blog, website or newsletter. Here’s the reason to give others permission to use your content: Each article contains a small “resource box” with information about you and your blog (or website, book or services) and a link to your blog. Each time the articles is published somewhere, that box also is published. Readers find out about your, and your blog gains a link, which boosts it again in the search engines, and you gain some free publicity. You can use an ezine article distribution service, like SubmitYourArticle.com, which will submit one article to many ezine article directories, but it is not free.
5. Turn your social networking status updates into blog posts.
If you are active in social networks, in particular in groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, and often answer questions in these groups, start turning your answers into blog posts. Elaborate on those answers. Offer more tips or tools or a more in-depth response. Publish this as a blog post. Of course, if you have a book, provide a link to the book in your blog post. Go back to the group and share the link to your blog post. In this way you will drive more traffic to your blog, showcase your expertise and make the group members aware of your book. Gather enough of these short posts and you could compile a tip book.
6. Add audio and video to your blog.
If you add podcasts or videos to your blog, these provide just one more way to get the word out about you and your book. Audio and video don’t provide as much search engine optimization as blog content, but they are useful, especially since YouTube, in particular, has so many viewers. Your audio can gain many listeners, of course, on Itunes.
7. Pin your blog photos on Pinterest.
Last, but not least, Pinterest is the third largest, as well as the fastest-growing, social network at the moment. The easiest way to use this network in conjunction with your blog posts is to make sure each post has a photo and to then “pin” the photo to a relevant “board” in your Pinterest account. Make sure you write a little something about the photo and include a link back to your blog post. You might publish a weekly inspirational photo and later compile these into a book.
Choose a few of these seven ideas and put them to use—or choose them all! Before long you’ll see your blog turn into a superb content marketing machine.
If you map out the content for a book, and then write and publish it from scratch in post-sized bits (250-500 word pieces) on your blog, you will begin to drive your blog up in the search engine results pages and attract more readers as you write the first draft of your book. By posting often and consistently—2-7 days per week, you organically provide search engine optimization for your blog. This increases your blogged book’s discoverability in the search engines, like Google. This means when a potential reader, journalist, agent, or publisher searches for a topic related to you or your book, your blog may come up on that coveted first Google search engine results page.
2. Book your blog.
If you have been blogging for a while, your blog contains content that could fill a book. Create a content plan, but this time go back through your blog and find existing posts to fill out each chapter. You may need to write some additional content and edit the whole manuscript to make it flow and read like a book and not a blog.
When you are done, you can begin to promote the book on your blog. You could sell the book to readers or try to land a publishing deal. Or you could give your “booked blog” away as a marketing tool to gain more mailing list subscribers so you can market to them directly when your next book is released.
3. Blog about your book.
This is a more traditional use of an “author’s blog.” Simply find many topics related to your book to blog about. For nonfiction writers, this can seem simple; blog about your topic and everything related to that topic. Also tie into the news as it pertains to your topic. For fiction writers, consider every subject, theme, character, place, etc., in your story, and blog about that. Also tie into the news. This is a great way to drive your blog up in the search engine results pages and to help readers interested in your topics find you and your book.
4. Turn blog posts into ezine articles.
Take your best and most informative blog posts and rewrite them (at least 20-40 percent) into 500-word articles. Then post them on Ezinearticle.com or any other ezine article site. When you do this, you make them available to anyone who needs content on their own blog, website or newsletter. Here’s the reason to give others permission to use your content: Each article contains a small “resource box” with information about you and your blog (or website, book or services) and a link to your blog. Each time the articles is published somewhere, that box also is published. Readers find out about your, and your blog gains a link, which boosts it again in the search engines, and you gain some free publicity. You can use an ezine article distribution service, like SubmitYourArticle.com, which will submit one article to many ezine article directories, but it is not free.
5. Turn your social networking status updates into blog posts.
If you are active in social networks, in particular in groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, and often answer questions in these groups, start turning your answers into blog posts. Elaborate on those answers. Offer more tips or tools or a more in-depth response. Publish this as a blog post. Of course, if you have a book, provide a link to the book in your blog post. Go back to the group and share the link to your blog post. In this way you will drive more traffic to your blog, showcase your expertise and make the group members aware of your book. Gather enough of these short posts and you could compile a tip book.
6. Add audio and video to your blog.
If you add podcasts or videos to your blog, these provide just one more way to get the word out about you and your book. Audio and video don’t provide as much search engine optimization as blog content, but they are useful, especially since YouTube, in particular, has so many viewers. Your audio can gain many listeners, of course, on Itunes.
7. Pin your blog photos on Pinterest.
Last, but not least, Pinterest is the third largest, as well as the fastest-growing, social network at the moment. The easiest way to use this network in conjunction with your blog posts is to make sure each post has a photo and to then “pin” the photo to a relevant “board” in your Pinterest account. Make sure you write a little something about the photo and include a link back to your blog post. You might publish a weekly inspirational photo and later compile these into a book.
Choose a few of these seven ideas and put them to use—or choose them all! Before long you’ll see your blog turn into a superb content marketing machine.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Don’t make these 7 self-publishing mistakes
Here are some of the most common:
1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.
2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.
3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?
4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.
5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)
6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.
7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, you should too.
1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.
2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.
3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?
4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.
5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)
6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.
7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, you should too.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
10 things to do before you self-publish
1. Get Educated. Immediately. Book publishing is a complex and tricky business. Work on building your own library of how-to and advice books and periodicals that explain the industry. Buy a copy of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5th Edition, the “bible” of self publishing. Pull them off the shelves often enough that they don’t ever gather dust.
2. Get Advice. Make it a goal to obtain a minimum of seven to ten objective, in-depth critiques of your manuscript from competent experts. If the same suggestions for improvement are made by several people, take their advice and make the changes.
3. Get Focused. Define with precision the editorial niche your book fits into, and how the readership within it will be reached. Exhaust these opportunities.
4. Get Busy. Develop a marketing plan addressing packaging, promotion, direct mail, publicity, warehousing and distribution.
5. Get Humble. Concurrently circulate the publishing proposal to established publishers in the field not only as an alternative to self-publishing, but for free feedback.
6. Get Serious. Ask yourself what special credentials you have that would convince people to buy a book from you. Position yourself as an expert in the subject your book covers.
7. Get Out of the Clouds. There are sales experts in your field be it gardening, travel, politics or education. Ask them to help you develop realistic sales projections and sales forecasts for your book.
8. Get a Red Pen. Develop a profit/loss statement for your book based on projected costs and sales forecasts.
9. Get Real. From all your cost projections, figure out your total investment. Be prepared to lose that amount of money.
10. Get Deductible. Investigate and understand the personal or corporate tax implications, particularly how production costs can be amortized and how unsold book inventory can be written off.
2. Get Advice. Make it a goal to obtain a minimum of seven to ten objective, in-depth critiques of your manuscript from competent experts. If the same suggestions for improvement are made by several people, take their advice and make the changes.
3. Get Focused. Define with precision the editorial niche your book fits into, and how the readership within it will be reached. Exhaust these opportunities.
4. Get Busy. Develop a marketing plan addressing packaging, promotion, direct mail, publicity, warehousing and distribution.
5. Get Humble. Concurrently circulate the publishing proposal to established publishers in the field not only as an alternative to self-publishing, but for free feedback.
6. Get Serious. Ask yourself what special credentials you have that would convince people to buy a book from you. Position yourself as an expert in the subject your book covers.
7. Get Out of the Clouds. There are sales experts in your field be it gardening, travel, politics or education. Ask them to help you develop realistic sales projections and sales forecasts for your book.
8. Get a Red Pen. Develop a profit/loss statement for your book based on projected costs and sales forecasts.
9. Get Real. From all your cost projections, figure out your total investment. Be prepared to lose that amount of money.
10. Get Deductible. Investigate and understand the personal or corporate tax implications, particularly how production costs can be amortized and how unsold book inventory can be written off.
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