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 118, Number 336 August 31, 2015 |
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| | Greetings!
Here is your August 31 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 |
(The Association of Publishers for Special Sales -- formerly SPAN) | The 2015 Los Angeles 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. Sponsored by APSS, Bowker, BookWorks, IBPA, LaJolla Writers Conference, Reid Creative and SPAWN. It will be held from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
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Discover This Week's "Marketing Tips" - at www.bookapss.org (changed every Thursday)
- The Top Ten Ways to Turn Design Thinking Into Marketing Strategy
- 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 - Designed by writers for writers and by educators for educators, the site provides professional children's writers with information about the business of writing
- 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) | Getting Lead Times Right. One of the biggest mistakes a publisher can make is to accelerate the publication date to meet some artificial deadline. The most important date you should keep in mind is the lead time demanded by the largest book retailers. They do this to establish a coherent budgeting procedure, which means if you insist on a one-month lead time, you will not get your book onto the shelves of America's biggest accounts. Most distributors will counsel you on the best timing for your book. Listen to them because they are trying to maximize your initial sales with book retailers. |
| | The secret to successful publishing is not to publish more and more books but to effectively market those books already published. |
| | This cover must display the names of 100 of today's best thriller writers, all of whom wrote an essay for the book. This is accomplished by using all of their names as a screen, as if looking through a window, to reveal the lurking figure outside. The effect is unifying, creates a strong visual, yet lets each name be legible. This is an example of the power of giving visual meaning to the words on a book cover. When words and image become one. |
| 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: Get Started Early and Engage Often via Social Media to Market Your Book Yes, you will most likely do some publicity and PR. But, both have taken a back seat in the book buzz world to social media-primarily, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. If your book is for the YA or Juvenile crowd, Tumblr is in your future-it's where the Teens and Tweens hang out. Most likely, you will need to create a Facebook page along with a Fan page, start a Twitter account and Tweeting; get involved with groups on LinkedIn-in fact, create your own. Videos are hot and so is YouTube, create your own channel. Google owns YouTube-the combo is huge, don't ignore them. One of the huge mistakes authors repeatedly do is delay their social media strategies. The sooner you get this started, the better. If you are planning on doing any type of media with your book, don't be surprised when you are asked by a producer of a show, "How many Twitter followers or Facebook friends do you have?" You see, they expect you do shout outs about your appearance to promote it and the show. If you are a minor player, you may not get a role. It's that simple. Tip: Social media is all about finding your crowd, community, or "tribe" and communicating with it on an ongoing basis. Get started now. |
You're On The Air (Nick Peters, Vice President, MediaLink)
| It is incumbent upon the talent to be prepared to either answer the tough or unexpected question or know how to deflect it. |
The Very Idea (Editorial by Brian Jud) |  What is your definition of special sales? Many define it as "everything outside of bookstore sales (bricks and clicks). While that is basically true, it is not specific enough to direct your selling activities. An unclear definition makes it difficult to plan your attack. It will be easier to get started if you simply divide "special sales" into two parts: retail and non-retail. The retail segment is comprised of outlets such as supermarkets, discount stores, airport stores, gift shops and specialty stores. You sell to them through distributors and wholesalers, and most sales are returnable. The other part is non-retail, and is made up of corporations, associations, schools, government agencies and the military. In most cases you sell to them directly, and sales are non-returnable and in larger quantities.
As Mark Twain said, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." |
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) | Associate with a cause. If you want to maximize the power of your book as a motivational tool, connect it with a cause. You inspire employees, channel partners and customers to do good for others as they do good for your client's company. A PR Week/Barkley Cause Survey revealed that nearly three quarters of consumers purchase particular brands because they support a cause in which they believe. And more then 90% of consumers said it is important for companies to support causes and charities. Corporate respondents said they saw positive publicity, an increase in sales/retail traffic and an enhanced relationship with their target demographic as a result of cause-marketing efforts. Every year, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) provides free books and literacy resources to millions of children and families with free books. Contact one of RIF's corporate sponsors to work your title through the system (http://www.rif.org). For example, Colgate-Palmolive Company donated more than 120 new book collections each containing 127 high-quality hardcover children's books to RIF programs nationwide and at U.S. military bases overseas. Other sponsors include Capital One Financial Corporation, Macy's, Target Corporation, MetLife Foundation and The ARAMARK Charitable Fund. UGI Utilities, Inc. gave RIF a local twist by helping RIF target specific geographic areas such as those located in UGI communities in Pennsylvania. |
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) | If you asked my opinion on what successful people do, I would say...
1) Be committed to Personal Development - be the best you can be in all areas of your life.
2) Be a networker - one person can change your life forever.
3) Be a learner - a reader. One idea can change your life forever.
4) Know and use the success principles that work for you.
5) Have the discipline to follow through on the success principles.
6) OIMF - "Odds in my Favor" - do what you need to do to get the odds in your favor. |
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) | Planning gives you clarity and focus. Clarity is the ability to analyze all the possible opportunities and focus is the capacity to concentrate on one that will benefit you the most. The goal of any plan is a list of practical actions that lead to the attainment of your objectives. |
Book-Marketing Tips - Roger C. Parker | How to choose the right designer to set up your author platform. Authors often ask the wrong questions when looking for a web designer to help them create a blog to serve as the hub of their author platform. This is especially true when authors approach- -or are approached by- -local web designers.
During the past 2 years, I've encountered a distressing number of authors who have spent great amounts of money (4-figure sums are not uncommon!)- -who, after 3 or 4 months- -still don't have an appropriately, functioning blog-based author platform. This is bad enough from the point of view of wasted money. But, it's even worse when viewed in terms of lost opportunities caused by the delays and non-performance.
Inappropriate expectations and delegation. The unhappy scenario described above begins when an author chooses the wrong designer, then delegates too much unsupervised authority to them. Many designers come to blog and web from a print background. A print background is fine, especially when it has taught the designer the fundamentals of organizing and presenting complex information in a manner that emphasizes readability and permits easy scanning.
The problem is that many "jack of all trades" designers have previously earned most of their living from creating ads, brochures, logos, menus, and newsletters for local businesses and non-profits. They often have a different perspective; they approach blogs and author platforms from an exclusively creative, or "image" background. As a result, these designers tend to over-emphasize color, type, and layout, while under-emphasizing the functional and programming aspects of blog set-up and design needed for success as the hub of an author platform.
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Marketing Strategy
(Excerpted from Brian Jud's e-booklet, The Buck Starts Here: 635 Tips for Creating Successful Marketing Strategy; www.bookmarketing.com) | Your job is to find or create - through content or promotion -- a meaningful and distinctive reason why your customers should choose your title over all the others. Not every difference is a differentiator. To be effective in motivating people to buy, the distinguishing characteristic(s) must be important to them, superior to similar titles, communicable, affordable and profitable (to you). |
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 is the Poor Man's Copyright and how can it protect my work? The concept known as the poor man's copyright says basically that you should mail yourself a copy of your work and not open it in order to establish the date that your work existed in case you ever need to defend your work or challenge a work you believe infringes on your rights. This, unfortunately, is a myth that continues to be perpetuated even by established writers and it should no longer exist in the writing world! The Poor Man's Copyright does not offer any additional protection beyond that which already exists once your idea is fixed and thus your work is created. Additionally it does not constitute a registration of your copyright. Registration is easy (no need for a lawyer) and inexpensive (as low as $35 if you register electronically -- as of this presentation) - a small price to pay to preserve valuable rights. Consider it an insurance policy. |
Booklet Ideas - Paulette Ensign | One of the easiest ways to create content for your tips booklet or other information products is right in front of you. You may never have noticed it or considered it. And yet using this approach goes a long way to accomplishing many things, and all at once. Ask your clients or audiences for their best or favorite tips on what has worked well for them. Here are some of the things that can accomplish: 1. You learn what already resonates with people you serve and want to serve. 2. You capture ideas you may never have known, with little research time and effort. 3. You engage your clients, creating relationship and two-way communication. Realize that some of your content contributors are fine with you using their name in attributing the tip to them. Others may not be okay with it. Having them sign a simple release form is the way to go so you have a clear understanding of their preference, and an agreement from them that you can use the tip in whatever ways you'd like, online and offline. The release is also the place to let them know that you may be paying them by providing a copy of some form of your publication as a thank-you if that is your choice. A copy of your publication is one of many non-cash ways you can compensate the content contributor. You may have something else that makes sense to offer. However, paying any financial royalties or commissions can become a bookkeeping nightmare in a situation like this. Providing a copy of the publication is a well-established model of compensating a content contributor in this type of arrangement. It could turn out that your content contributors will want to invest in copies to give as gifts or to sell, depending on how your product turns out and the overall mindset of the person whose tips you included. So not only have you gotten the information from a tried-and-tested source, you may even have buyers from among those same people, before you even start promoting the product for your own business purposes. Be as clear as possible in your request. It could be a certain number of words, or on a particular part of your subject (organizing your kids, organizing your kitchen, organizing your desk, etc.), or a certain maximum number of tips. No matter how clear you are, expect to edit whatever you receive. Besides making a blanket request to your clients to submit tips to you, you may also hear or notice something someone says or is doing that appeals to you to include in what you are creating. It is still crucial to ask for permission if you are considering attributing the information to that client. ACTION - Map out a campaign of who you will ask for tips, how you will ask them what you want the focus of the content to be, how you will thank the content contributors, and what your overall marketing will be for each form of the product. Then schedule the tasks so you know how it fits into everything else in your world. |
Guest Columnist - Gail Z. Martin | Do a SWOT Analysis for your book. Your SWOT analysis should make clear your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Your business plan should have a goal or action that addresses each SWOT aspect. - What are your book's STRENGTHS and features that differentiate it from other books on the same topic?
- What are the WEAKNESSES of you or your book? (Examples could range from lacking a distributor for your book, to having less career success in your topic than competing authors.)
- What OPPORTUNITIES currently exist in the marketplace for books such as yours? (For example, during an economic downturn, books on budgeting and saving money soar in popularity.)
- What are the biggest THREATS you see to the book's success? (This could range from you suddenly getting too busy with family, health or work issues to suitably promote the book; to having a crisis occur that makes your topic out of favor.)
Once you have thought through these items, your book business plan should get clearer. |
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) | Send out review copies to make subsidiary rights sales. The quicker you send them, the less chance the editor or buyer will have to lose interest in your book. In most cases, these review copes must be in the hands of major rights buyers at least six months before publication date so they have plenty of time to make a decision and schedule their use of the rights they buy. |
| | Local or regional media. For local promotions, this group can be ideal, and it may be more willing to give you coverage. In some campaigns, concentrating on local coverage can provide better value. Don't discount the value of building a strong media base in your hometown. A supportive local base can be extremely loyal and helpful in expanding your contacts. Usually, locals will take special pride in your success and go to great length to boost your career. |
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) | 
Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA)
The EFA is a national nonprofit professional organization for the publishing and communications industries. Members are editors, writers, indexers, proofreaders, researchers, desktop publishers, translators and other professionals who offer a broad range of skills and specialties. There is a fee for the EFA's members-only section, but the online links/reference section is free. Membership in this organization offers a number of helpful services, including a job listing subscription service, networking with peers, educational programs, a bimonthly newsletter and other publications, comprehensive health insurance, searchable online membership directory, regional chapters, and legal and accounting services. |
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Why It's Easier Than Ever to Get an Agent: 8 Steps to Landing the Agent You Need Fast By Michael Larsen Now is the best time ever to be a writer or self-publisher. Your books will be published. The only questions are when and how it will happen. Based on Mike's book, How to Get a Literary Agent, this webinar will show you how to get the agent and publisher you want fast. Mike will also tell you about "10 Commandments That Guarantee Your Success." If you register, you will receive 40 pages of handouts. You can also call or write Mike with questions after the webinar. Sept 10 , 6:00 pm Eastern
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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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