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 117, Number 335 August 17, 2015 |
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| | Greetings!
Here is your August 17 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 Marika Flatt.
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 |
(The Association of Publishers for Special Sales -- formerly SPAN) | | The 2015 Southern California Book Selling University Attend our one-day event on September 12 and you can become more profitable selling your books in ways that you never imagined and to people you never knew existed - in large, non-returnable quantities. Attendance is limited to the first 50 people to register. It will be held from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
For more information:
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Discover This Week's "Marketing Tips" - at www.bookapss.org (changed every Thursday)
- The Top Ten Reasons to Use Online Video to Achieve Higher Engagement With Consumers
- Get your book cover or marketing message on promotional items such as coffee mugs, pens, pads, bookmarks, key chains, shirts, umbrellas or any of hundreds of other promotional products. Get free consulting on using promotional items
- Find sample marketing plans for selling books in many genres
- Are you solving the right problem? Find out how you can. Get Unstuck with a new idea every week
- Novel Ideas - Literary Law Guide. If you're looking for legal information without the legalese, this is the site for you.
- Read It and Reap -- A new book business book is reviewed each week
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| 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) | Now, I believe we are entering a new phase of growth and success for independent publishers worldwide and we predict that this will mean better services and better pricing from companies providing sales and distribution. This will mean that distributors will have to become more innovative, more flexible and more competitive in support of their publisher clients. And it will also mean that the publisher will have more choice and leverage when negotiating contracts with distributors. The distributor will have to become quicker, more responsive and more transparent in the conduct of their business and it will mean more growth and success for the publishers as the support for their titles increases in the trade marketplace. I am optimistic because there is real cause for optimism. |
| | | Replace expensive four-color brochures with less expensive business cards. Your card should have a photograph of the book's cover, your usual contact information and a list of all the resources that can be found on your Web site. Use the cards to drive traffic to your web site.
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(Owner/Creative Director, TLC Graphics. For more information about producing beautiful and saleable books, please visit www.TLCGraphics.com) |  Does it really matter if your book cover designer knows anything about the book's subject matter? The simple answer is, "yes and no." In most cases, a good designer can create wonderful, saleable designs armed with back cover copy, a synopsis, your marketing plan, and a little background on the topic. If however, you do find a designer who knows something about your subject matter, it can be a big bonus to get his or her added insight. In the case of Special Diets for Special Kids, the publisher and author wanted to emphasize healthy foods, staying away from less nutritious kids' staples like cupcakes, pizza, and the like. As a person actually on this diet, I know that anyone with these restrictions simply wants assurance that they can still eat many of the foods they loved pre-diagnosis. Not showing this on the cover could turn potential readers away, giving them the impression it's all about boring health food that their already picky kids won't want to eat. By using photos that show a nice compromise between healthy and familiarity, this cover is attractive to kids and parents and invokes a "can-do" attitude. |
| The Book Shepherd - Judith Briles Dr. Judith Briles is The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and Chief Visionary Officer of AuthorU (www.AuthorU.org). She is the author of 34 books including The CrowdFunding Guide for Authors & Writers and Author YOU: Creating and Building Your Author and Book Platforms. Register for her online course, How to Write a NonFiction Book in 4 Weeks and connect on Twitter @MyBookShepherd. Her radio podcast, AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing, gets over 300,000 downloads each month and can be heard at http://bit.ly/AuthorURadio | Author Nugget: Without a Written Plan for Your Book, it's a Strike. We all need some type of a guide. The Timelines within are a guide and become part of your over-all author and publishing plan. Therefore, your plan should be to have a plan. You can hire out or you can do yourself. Your plan acts as a guide to what your book is about; who your market is; how you are going to reach out and connect with it; what media support you are going to desire and use; how much money you are going to invest in your venture; even, what kind of spin-offs you are thinking of. Tip: Not having a plan is a good way to practice the art of floundering. |
You're On The Air Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, It's Show Time: 493 Tips for Performing Successfully | Two concepts determine your relative success in answering questions on the air: preparation and flexibility. You may or may not know the questions you will be asked, nor the person asking them. But if you know your topic and know what you want to get across to the audience, you can perform well in any situation. |
The Very Idea (Editorial by Brian Jud) | An architect built a cluster of office buildings around a central green. When construction was completed, the landscape crew asked him where he wanted the sidewalks. "Just plant the grass between the buildings," was his reply. By late summer the new lawn was laced with paths trodden in easy curves and were sized according to the traffic flow. In the fall, the architect simply paved the paths. Not only did the paths have a design beauty, they responded directly to the user needs. Just because you create a unique product, one you think your potential customers should use, they may not care. They will continue on their own paths, in their own directions, sometimes regardless of what you say. Before you introduce a new product, find out what your prospects want. Then show them how you can help them do what they want to do, only better, easier, less expensive, etc. |
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) | As a follow-up to last month's selling tip, consider this.....buyers may not be interested in your entire book, rather, just parts of it, or chapters to enhance, educate or sell their products and services. (Remember, its all about their products and services, not your book.) Here is the next phase of thinking to consider: Take part of your book and tie-in a part of another book to make it a more valuable product for the client. In the Aug. 5th example, we used a credit union who wanted to use "part" of a book at a lower cost. Using that same credit union, perhaps your cookbook recipes could be one-half of the book, while the other half of the book is financial advice for young couples. Therefore, you end up with a recipe for the kitchen along with recipes for the financial future of the recipient. The end result? A unique product that can be given and appreciated by a wide array of clients. Organizations such as APSS have thousands of members with books that can be used in such a manner. APSS can also help identify books that could be combined to be acceptable to a buyers needs. |
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) | Video is changing the world. No longer does your message need to be neatly crafted between two book ends. Today your message can travel the net and end up in someone's living room, office cube, conference room, phone etc... The audience can now see your face, watch your expressions, truly be with you. If you are not incorporating video into your messaging, you are missing the impact it can make on your audience. |
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) | A typical marketing plan has three major parts. The first is direction - describing where your business is going. The second is a statement of what you are going to do and the third describes how you will do it. Begin your marketing plan with a sentence stating your mission and overall objective for the upcoming period. Next, make a list of strategies that outline your general game plan. Finally, describe your tactics, which are the specific actions you will take to fulfill your strategies and achieve your objective. |
Book-Marketing Tips - Roger C. Parker | What's the most popular word found on the back covers of best-selling books? Experienced authors know that one of the best ways you can get a head start on writing and promoting your book is to write the back cover copy first. Writing the back cover copy as soon as possible forces you to describe your book, your intended market, and the benefits that readers will enjoy, as concisely as possible. Once you've described your book, its readers, and its benefits, you have the foundation for a book proposal and a starting point for writing and marketing your book. In analyzing dozens of examples of back covers of best-selling books, I've discovered that "whether" is the most frequently encountered word. "Whether" makes it easy to target your intended readers without excluding anyone. For example, on the back cover of Chip Heath and Dan Heath's Made to Stick, the first sentence begins, "Whether you're a CEO or a full-time mom..." From the back cover of Shel Horowitz's Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, "Whether you published traditionally, use a subsidy house, self-publish, or run a small/mid-size press..." From the back cover of Janice (Ginny) Redish's Letting Go of the Words, "On the web, whether on the job or at home..." Take the time to carefully study the words on the back cover of successful books. Chances are, you'll frequently encounter "whether" used to define either the intended readers or the situation that you're addressing in your book. |
Marketing Strategy
(Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, The Buck Starts Here: 635 Tips for Creating Successful Marketing Strategy; www.bookmarketing.com) | Do not automatically go where everyone else is or do what they do. Look everywhere for innovative ways to market your books and achieve what others are not. Trust your intuition, make creative choices and implement them courageously. New ideas are neither right nor wrong -- they are simply different. They are odd-shaped pegs that do not fit into round or square holes. |
Legal Matters That Matter to Writers (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.) | What's copyright registration and do I need to register my work? Registration of your copyright creates a public record of the facts and circumstances pertaining to it. While registration is not necessary for your copyright to exist, you should register it for further protection. The Copyright Act gives you certain advantages under the law if you do register your work. Advantages include (in addition to those listed in the August 9 edition): - If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or prior to infringement, statutory damages and attorney fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available.
- Registration allows the copyright owner to record the registration with the U.S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies.
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Booklet Ideas - Paulette Ensign | Whether you are out of your office for a vacation, business trip, local shopping, visits with family or friends, or going for a walk around the block, do you notice ideas often surface that you struggle to intentionally access when sitting in front of your computer for a predefined writing session? If so, you are not alone in that experience. What do you do to capture the ideas, much less to honor them? There is a rhythm, a flow that occurs when you are in motion and in a different environment. It's not uncommon to hear someone comment about getting some of their best ideas in the shower or in the middle of the night when sleeping. Maybe you have said such things yourself While there are certainly physiological and psychological reasons this happens, take a practical and simple approach to make the most of all of that. You may think you'll remember it later. Even if you do, why not make it easy to open up space for more ideas to come to mind by recording the current idea now rather than risking it evaporating or struggling to remember it later? Yes, your bite size brilliance comes to mind when you are out and about physically, mentally, or both. Accept that for what it is - brilliance that warrants your attention. Then capture it -- now. 1. Capture the raw unpolished seed of the idea the soonest moment you can. All you need is just enough so it will trigger your thinking later when you are ready to refine and embellish it. 2. Use whatever method or methods that are immediately available to you. That can be anything from recording the tidbit by voice or as a text or a note on your smart phone to jotting something down on a torn snippet of paper in your purse or pocket. 3. Have hard copy and digital recording methods easily accessible so you don't have to hunt for something when an idea comes to mind. A writing instrument and a small pad of paper in each room of your home or office (yes EACH room) , in your car, in your back pack, or anything else you carry becomes an ideal back-up if your cell phone ran out of battery power or is otherwise unavailable. 4. Centralize the random ideas into a folder on your computer as soon as possible. The audio messages need to be transcribed so you can shape and manage all the information from your various sources when you're ready. 5. Shape the information into how-to tips and then into categories. You are well on the way to finishing a document that can be sold, shared, or both. An introduction, some information about your background, and contact information for reaching you complete the manuscript.
ACTION - Notice the wealth of ideas that come to you when you are not sitting at your desk. Move around, especially when you are feeling stuck, bored, or uninspired. Regardless of your power of concentration, your innate level of diligence, or even a deadline you may be on, you will accomplish more by mixing things up in your physical and psychological environment. |
Guest Columnist - Marika Flatt | Two months is a really short amount of time for a publicity campaign as it does not leave time to do much follow up, which is oftentimes very crucial to getting media attention. Therefore, we only recommend this option to those who want to help with their own follow up. This is a good "testing the waters" option for novelists or others who aren't sure how the media will react to their pitch. Also, a radio-only or online-only campaign is a great option for those on a tighter budget. |
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) | Through a network of sales representatives who sell to camera shops across the country, Amherst Media has sold over 45,000 copies of "Basic 35mm Photo Guide for Beginning Photographers." To encourage sales in non-bookstore outlets, they provide free counter-top displays with the purchase of twelve or more copies. Editor's note: Brian Jud has a program to act as your sales representative to non-bookstore buyers: Visit www.premiumbookcompany |
| | For radio and TV, call producers, not hosts. Call them after their shows have run because that's when they usually have time. Prior to their shows, they're usually totally occupied by details required to put on their programs. When you call, chances are you won't get through. At that point, you can leave a message or ask to have them paged. In all contacts - by e-mail or phone messages or when speaking with the media - give or recite your silver bullet. Say, "This is Robyn Freedman Spizman. My book Make It Memorable tells you how to give the most meaningful and memorable gifts on earth." Then add, "I'd like to send you a press release telling you all about it." |
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) | 
Funds for Writers Chosen for the 101 Best Writing Websites by Writer's Digest for 15 years running, Funds for Writers from Hope Clark offers the inside scoop on grants, funding, crowdfunding and paying contests in its free and fee-based newsletters. Clark vets every opportunity. |
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7 Things Your 2016 Publicity Campaign Must Include By Joan Stewart August 19, 6:00 pm Eastern
When you're mapping out your publicity plan for next year, don't skip this important step: Make it easy for people to find you. That includes journalists looking for sources, and people in your target market who are searching for solutions to the kinds of problems you can help them solve. That's only one of 7 things you must do if you want massive amounts of free publicity for your expertise and your books.
You will learn:
--Why you need a publicity plan and a publicity strategy --7 old-school tactics that waste time and money --How to find and penetrate your target market --21 questions to ask so you can find your ideal readers --Tools that will help you find readers --How to build your own media empire --One important think you can do to pull people to you
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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 |
| Book Lemur - Promote your eBook and get results |  BookLemur connects ebook readers to books and authors and we enjoy finding new authors and books and introducing them to thousands of subscribers. So there are 6,800+ subscribers, and it's growing at about 100 per day!
APSS members receive a 20% discount to promote their titles
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| 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 |
| |  Increase Your Profits with Sales Promotional Items Get your book cover or marketing message on promotional items such as coffee mugs, pens, pads, bookmarks, key chains, shirts, umbrellas or any of hundreds of other promotional products. See more examples at www.bookapss.org/PromoItems.pdf Find out how you can use promotional items to: · Lure new customers · Remind procrastinators to buy · Encourage repeat purchases · Create brand awareness · Boost sales · Create customer loyalty · Attract more people to your trade-show exhibit · Spread word-of-mouth advertising · Have a fun giveaway for book signings and other events Contact Guy Achtzehn at The Promotional Bookstore, guy@msgpromo.com or (717) 846-3865. Provide your APSS membership number for a 10% discount on promotional items
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Contact Information for Brian Jud
| | For copies of all the previous issues of Book Marketing Matters visit www.bookmarketingworks.com/mktgmattersnews To subscribe to Book Marketing Matters click here: I won't share or sell your email address. Discover even more information about non-bookstore marketing by visiting the Special-Sales Tip of the Week at www.bookmarketing.com
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. Find rated lists of suppliers to publishers at www.bookcentralstation.com. 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, planning, marketing, publishing law, design and writing.
Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (800) 562-4357; brianjud@bookmarketing.com or go to http://www.bookmarketing.com
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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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