Book Marketing Matters™
Brian Jud's free, bi-weekly ezine dedicated to helping you get your fair share of sales in special-sales (non-bookstore) markets, and sell more books profitably
Volume 14, Issue 3, Number 323 February 2, 2015 |
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| | Greetings!
Here is your February 2 edition of the Book Marketing Matters special-sales ezine by Brian Jud. It contains regular columns with tips from Dan Poynter, John Kremer, Guy Achtzehn, Rick Frishman, Eric Kampmann, Paulette Ensign, Judith Briles, Tonya Evans and Roger C. Parker. The guest columnist in this issue is Gail Z. Martin.
This newsletter is sent by subscription only. Please pass this information along to people you feel may benefit by it. If there were any problems with this delivery, please let me know. If you prefer to have this sent to you as a pdf, please reply with "pdf" in the subject line or body copy. If you no longer wish to receive this -- or if you received it in error -- please reply with "Remove" in the subject line. All of us at Book Marketing Works wish you success in your book-marketing efforts, Brian Jud Click here to view this newsletter as a pdf document |
News From APSS
(The Association of Publishers for Special Sales) | | APSS conducted a member survey in 4Q 2014. We had a great response, and one of the suggestions was to have our 2015 Book Selling University in a different location. It was held in the Philadelphia area for the last two years. We did this because the largest concentration of APSS members is in the Northeast quarter of the country. The second largest concentration of members is on the West coast. We are thinking about having this year's event there. One alternative would be in the San Francisco area, and another would be Southern California. A third option would be a one-day event in both areas. What are your thoughts on these ideas? Please email me at BrianJud@bookapss.org Thank you, Brian Jud Executive Director, APSS |
| We can sell your books to non-bookstore buyers -- non-returnable | | Do you want us to sell your books?
Commission-based special sales. Non-returnable. We pay shipping
We get about 3,000 hits per month  on the ESP search engine. Most of the titles in our program receive some action on a regular basis. We cannot show them all, but here is a list of the direct inquires for which we send sample books. We usually customize them with the customer's logos or with a tip-in insert page. www.premiumbookcompany.com |
| Notes From the Front Lines (Excerpted - with permission - from the Book Publishers' Handbook, by Eric Kampmann, President, Midpoint Trade Books ekampmann@aol.com) | The Seven Signposts on the Road to Good Publishing. Publishing books is like taking a journey. You need a map to point the way; or signposts to guide you. For example, when I backpack I look for blazes on trees. Or, if I am above the tree line, I seek out cairns or stone markers that I follow with care so I stay on the trail. As with any journey, a good publisher knows he must follow certain signposts to successfully produce, sell, and market his books. Ignore an important signpost and you can get lost, or go in the wrong direction. Each marker represents a decision you must make - sometimes on your own or with the advice and counsel of someone with more experience. Over the next four issues of Book Marketing Matters I will describe one of seven signposts on the road to good publishing. Here is the third. Printing. How do you pick a printer you trust? And how many copies should you print? These are two big financial decisions that can support or undermine the entire venture. A good publisher understands how to evaluate and choose what to invest in terms of paper weight, opacity, and binding. Even more important is the question of how many copies the first printing should be. You must be able accurately predict the quantity you can sell within the first four months. That is what you need to print to cover immediate demand without being stuck with excess inventory -a nd lost revenue. Just in time printing saves you money and worry. Having a professional sales team takes the guesswork out arriving at that number. |
Poynter's Pointers (Excerpted - with permission - from Dan Poynter's Fifteenth Edition of | | The greatest challenge to a self-publisher is managing the day-to-day excitement. |
The Cover Story - Peri Poloni-Gabriel (Peri Poloni-Gabriel of Knockout Design has been in the business of designing | 
Arcania: Trial by Fire, book 1
This cover was created strictly for e-book usage, with no spine or back cover. It is a young adult, dystopian novel with twin teens as the two main
characters. Time/space travel, magical powers and the contrast in personalities between the twins were important concepts to convey. Using a dark background with stars, created not only the mystical feel, but also allowed the elements to visually tie together. I was able to find stock images that looked like the same model, but was, in actuality, two different young women. Being the first in a series, the type was created to have a branded feel with use of the filigree and metallic gold. |
The Book Shepherd - Judith Briles (Judith Briles is the Chief Visionary Officer of www.AuthorU.org. She's known as The Book Shepherd ( www.TheBookShepherd.com), and is the author of 30 books including Show Me About Book Publishing and Author YOU: Creating and Building the Author and Book Platforms. Download podcasts from Judith's radio show, Your Guide to Book Publishing at: http://rsrn.us/youpublish | | Book clubs don't pay top dollar, but they buy books (at a deep discount), pay you quickly and don't return them. There are general interest, lifestyle, special interest and professional clubs. The Book-Clubs-Resource.com site is an eye-opener for general information on clubs, reading groups, how to set one up and online options. Let the Internet do the walking for you. |
You're On The Air (Deborah Wetzel, morning news anchor and talk-show host on WCBS-FM, New York City) | | If you speak monotonously, it's nothing you're going to change in the 30 seconds before you go on the air. If you think you've got a terrible voice, go see a coach. |
The Very Idea
(Editorial by Brian Jud) |  Many publishers bury their backlist titles in favor of the latest ones. However, in special-sales marketing your backlist is just as fresh as your frontlist. Stop thinking in terms of frontlist and backlist. Most non-bookstore buyers are less concerned with the publication date than they are with how the content of your book can help them or their customers, employees, students or association members. Assuming your information is relevant, corporations may use it as a premium to increase sales of their products, magazines as a way to increase subscriptions or by museum gift shops as a way to enhance the experiences of their guests. Given the fact that you probably already have a frontlist and backlist, evaluate your complete inventory of titles, and then devote your attention to marketing those with the greatest potential. Then sell them in nontraditional places such as schools, colleges, hospitals, pharmacies and/or military bases. These groups might purchase them for resale, as premiums or as gifts. Dig out those old titles. Balance your efforts on marketing your frontlist of potential stars as well as your backlist of solid titles. Stop thinking of titles as individual publications but as bricks in the foundation of your future business. |
Ideas for Selling to Non-Bookstore Buyers - Guy Achtzehn (President of The Promotional Bookstore, offering commission-based sales of books to non-bookstore buyers, guy@msgpromo.com) | The sales process for a large order to a corporation may take several years. Buyers may initially test your title and then wait months or a year before placing an order. Rarely are people in as much of a hurry to buy your book as you are to sell it; so be patient. There is more at stake for buyers purchasing in large quantities, and corporate buyers in particular want to buy from people they know. It takes time to build the relationships that lead to large orders. As you prioritize your prospects and opportunities, sell smaller, but more frequent quantities to retailers while you are working on the larger orders. This may help to generate some interim cash flow. But the axiom still holds true that people buy on their timelines, not yours. |
Leadership and Growth Concepts - Tom Hill (Founder and CEO of the Eagle Goal Coach, an organization devoted solely to assisting others find and follow their life's passion. Tom can be reached at tom@tomhillwebsite.com) | This is a great time to set a "stretch" goal - a major goal and one that is outside your comfort zone - something that challenges you, increases your confidence and prepares you for greater achievements. It will probably be something you've thought about for years but never put it into action - now is the time. It can be a physical goal like running your first marathon or climbing a Colorado "fourteener." Perhaps it is writing your first book or deciding to get a Ph.D. My first complete 3 day solitude (no human contact for 3 days) was a stretch goal. Whatever it is, make the commitment, write it down and place it where you will see it every single day (maybe on your bathroom mirror). For those who have done this and found it as difficult as they had imagined, it led them to greater challenges. As my long time mentor Jim Rohn said, "How tall should a tree grow? The answer is as tall as it can." My guess is there's at least a 90% chance you have a tremendous amount of space to grow. Make something happen. |
Marketing Planning (Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan: 461 Tips for Profitable Marketing Planning; www.bookmarketing.com) | The executive summary of your business plan should concisely explain your company's current status, its products and services, promotional programs, the benefits to the customers, personnel strengths, the financial forecasts, your objectives in three to seven years, the amount of financing needed and how the investors will benefit. |
Book-Marketing Tips - Roger C. Parker | | Test several blog post title variations for SEO effectiveness. Search Engine Optimization is one of the most important marketing tools available for authors. Many authors pay a great deal of attention to choosing page titles and keywords that clearly speak to their prospect's needs and the contents on each page. Yet, the same authors who painstakingly target their market by choosing and testing the right keywords and page titles often neglect SEO when writing their everyday blog posts. Often, because of time constraints, there's a tendency to dash off a blog title, without thoroughly examining it for keyword relevance and consistency with the blog post that follows. Instead of using the first blog title you come up with, consider copying your original title to your word processor, and making a list of 4 or 5 variations on the title. The limitations, or strengths, of your first-draft title will become far more obvious when you see the original title in the context of your better thought-out variations. Evaluate each of your blog post titles in terms of their keyword relevance as well as how often the terms used in the title are repeated in the first paragraph of your blog post. |
Marketing Strategy
(Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, The Buck Starts Here: 635 Tips for Creating Successful Marketing Strategy; www.bookmarketing.com) | Five Questions to Ponder for 2015 (Fortune, Dec 22, 2014, pg 36) The answers to these five questions can help your business grow this year: 1.) Would you rehire your key employees? 2.) Can you state your strategy simply? 3.) What's your cash conversion cycle? 4.) What 25 relationships do you need to nurture? 5.) What could disrupt your business? |
Legal Matters That Matter to Writers - Professor Tonya M. Evans (Contact Professor Evans at Legal Write Publications, info@legalwritepublications.com or www.legalwritepublications.com; The information contained in this column is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you need advice regarding a specific legal matter, consult a lawyer as each case is fact-specific.) | | Copyright Registration with Fill-In Form CO: The next best option for registering basic claims is the new fill-in Form CO, which replaces Forms TX, VA, PA, SE, and SR. Using 2-D barcode scanning technology, the Office can process Form CO submissions (when properly completed by the submitter) more efficiently than paper forms. Simply complete Form CO on your personal computer, print it out, and mail it along with a check or money order and your deposit. The fee for a basic registration on Form CO is $50. Registration with Paper Forms: Paper versions of Forms are still available. The fee for a basic registration using one of these forms is $65 payable by check or money order. |
Booklet Ideas - Paulette Ensign | | You may think selling single copies of your tips booklet is the only way to go, whether it's hard copies, downloads, or both. It's a common, traditional, easy-to-understand approach of providing one copy directly to the end-user. There are plenty of good reasons why single copy sales work and will always work. Whether you stay with only selling single copies or use that as a springboard to adding or changing over to primarily bulk sales, you get to choose what works best for you and your business. It could be only single copies, only bulk sales, or a mix of both. Here are possibilities that may have crossed your mind, that confirm your thoughts, or could be new purposes for single copy sales that you never considered: - Personal self-improvement for your buyer
- Low-priced entry point to your product line
- Expectation of you as the speaker at an event
- To review for considering bulk purchase, even as personal gifts
- To review your expertise for considering you for other projects
- To evaluate how you value production quality
- Download for instant access 24/7 worldwide
- Good for impulse purchase
- To start a buzz/marketing campaign about you and your expertise
Taking this the next step, a few ideas to consider as places to sell those single copies are: - Your website
- Other people's websites
- Speaking engagements - face-to-face & virtual solo classes/summits
- Community events -street/craft fairs, yard sale, school event , spiritual
- Trunk of your car
- Door to door - homes, offices, businesses
- Articles in own publications (ezines, postcards)
- Articles in others' publications online/offline
- Table at retail store - bookstore, grocery, small shop, dept. store
While there is no "right" or "wrong" about any of this, you may find that one approach gets you closer to the results you want sooner and more enjoyably than another. It is up to you to decide what works best for you, how traditional or trailblazing you want to be, what drives you, and how ready you are to make any change that seems like a good idea regardless of the path you take or how large a change is involved. ACTION - Determine whether you would rather make only single copy sales to end users, bulk sales to companies, associations, schools, government, or a combination of single copy and large quantity sales. Each one has their advantages and benefits, downsides and challenges. Keep in mind that you can always reverse or modify any decision you make. That's the great thing about decisions. Sometimes a minor adjustment substantially increases your success without reverting to an all-or-nothing stance in how you do your business. One opportunity or situation can be ideal for single copy sales and another is better for large quantity sales. You can definitely do one, the other, or both as long as you do it strategically and are mindful of your results. Measuring your results can be in number of sales, the feeling you get by helping more people, both those measurements, or something you define as important to you. |
| | Take a realistic look at your finances. How much money can you afford to spend on marketing? Remember that marketing includes printing business cards or bookmarks, making posters, maybe even hiring an intern or an assistant to help you with research. Don't be tempted to print your own business cards or bookmarks to save money. You will not look professional, and any savings will be at the expense of credibility. These need to be done right. Realize that many people decide whether or not you're "for real" by your website. You need a good one. |
| | | In publicity, your message is delivered through the media and through channels such as your networks and your contacts' networks. In contrast to advertising, you don't pay the media to deliver your message, but convince it to deliver it in its articles, reviews, and programs. The media may deliver the exact message you provide, or write or present information about your book in its own words, style, or format. Publicity is effective because the public tends think of information it gets from the media as news. So, it gives publicity more credence than advertising does, which the public knows is bought and paid for by advertisers. Advertising is perceived as being big on hype and short on truth, while information provided by the media is generally accepted as true. |
Kremer's Korner (Excerpted - with permission - from John Kremer's Sixth Edition of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Contact John at http://www.bookmarket.com) | | Selling sponsorships. For a book on wealth preservation, one self-publisher charged contributors to write the book for him. He brought in fifty-four contributors at a price of $2,000 each. In return for his $2,000 and answering questions for the book, each contributor received copies of the book with him name on the front cover as one of the co-authors. In addition, his photograph and biography were featured on the back cover. The contributors were willing to pay so much because they wanted the exposure before so many potential customers for their service. |
Helpful Website of the Week - Adele M. Annesi
(Adele is a freelance writer and an editor with a high-tech analysis firm in Stamford, CT and may be reached at a.annesi@sbcglobal.net) |
Draft
https://draftin.com
This writing app has a simple concept: to help good writers become better. Draft is lets you put your small and large projects in one place and organize them. The app's Hemingway mode lets you write without being able to edit so that you can learn to get all your ideas onto the page. Draft also offers version control, advanced copyediting, a way to compare older work with new and much more. |
Pam's Book Marketing Tips - Pam Lontos | When you speak to groups about your book, have a hand-out. Don't make your hand-out an ad. Put in interesting facts about your topic that benefit those in your audience. Don't make it a fill-in-the-blanks format. Make it something the audience would want to keep because it's valuable or interesting or fun. It could be "10 Tips on Buying a House" or "Foods Highest in Antioxidants." This way, they will take it home and want to buy your book for even more information. Often people see or hear of your book but then forget the title before they have a chance to buy it. With a hand-out, they have the name of your book with them. |
| Upcoming Marketing Events | Your Personal Brand is as Important as Your Book By Carol McManus Publishers and Readers are rightfully enamored with the title and contents of your book, but to really gain traction and notoriety, you must also develop and nurture your personal brand. This interactive session will answer questions about what it is, how to do it, where to promote, and why it's important. Start thinking now about who you are and who you want to be known as while your writing career blossoms. Thursday, Feb 5, 6:00 - 7:30 pm Eastern Time Register here: http://tinyurl.com/owkzuy9 IngramSpark 101: The ABC's of Publishing Independently with the Platform By Robin Cutler, Senior Manager Independent Publishing, Ingram Content Group Inc. In this 101 session, learn how you can publish print and digital content economically and with ease using IngramSpark, all while taking advantage of Ingram's comprehensive distribution reach. This webinar will review the ins and outs of the platform, what it costs (and what you get for your money) and how Ingram makes books available globally to booksellers worldwide on behalf of publishers. Wednesday, Feb 18, 6:00 - 7:30 pm Eastern time Register at: http://tinyurl.com/qht8vnw |
Get Links to All of Jud's
Book Marketing Webinars | I have conducted over 50 webinars that can help you sell more books. Watch and listen as I describe how to increase your sales to non-bookstore buyers, how to get on TV and radio shows, get more publicity, conduct bookstore events, get more reviews and awards and more.Get links to recordings of my 60 - 90 minute webinars.
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Buy Lines -- Free Information | Do you need a jump-start to get your sales moving? If so, consider a one-hour consultation with Brian Jud. Get answers that will ignite your sales efforts. Brian can help you create a quality product, distribute it to markets you may not even know exist, price it profitably and promote it more effectively so you can...
Sell more books
Beat your competition
Become more profitable
Sell in untapped, lucrative markets
Minimize -- if not eliminate - returns
Contact BrianJud@bookmarketing.com for more information |
| Sell More Books, Make More Money In Special Sales |  Now Available - the most current and complete resource for increasing your sales and profits in non-bookstore markets.
The ultimate do-it-yourself guide to selling your books in large quantities with no returns. Not just who to contact, but when and how.
By Brian Jud -- $24.95
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| Do You Want to Increase Your Sales, Revenue and Profits? |  A one-day workshop in your office -- customized to your titles -- shows your staff how to make large-quantity sales |
| |  Sales Promotional Items Use coffee mugs, pens, and thousands of other items to increase awareness and sales of your books. Get a unique item -- a bookmark that actually grows flowers when planted. Print your message on it! |
I wish you success in your book marketing efforts. There are several ways in which I can help you sell more books more profitably. Let me tell you how by emailing your contact information to me at brianjud@bookmarketing.com. Sincerely, Brian Jud
Book Marketing Works |
| | | Brian Jud now offers commission-based sales to buyers in special markets and several other programs to contact prospective buyers in special markets for you through personal sales calls, customized mailings and telephone calls. There is a program for any budget. www.premiumbookcompany.com Brian is also an author and book-marketing consultant helping publishers market and promote their books to increase their sales and profits. Brian is a media trainer, frequent speaker at publishing events and host of the online Publisher's Bookstore listing many discounted titles on publishing, publicity, marketing and writing. Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (860) 675-1344; brianjud@bookmarketing.com or go to http://www.bookmarketing.com |
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