Question: John, we love your site www.Bookmarket.com (especially the free stuff page and your Book Marketing Tip of the Week newsletter!).

How did you find your way into being a book promo expert?

John’s Answer: I started out as a frustrated author waiting for a publisher to say yes. I finally decided to self-publish one of my books, but at the time (over 25 years ago), there wasn’t much information available on how to print books, market books, etc. So, before I started to self-publish, I did a lot of research. As a result, my first book was actually a directory of book printers (because I needed that information myself).

Well, other authors and publishers loved that directory, but many authors then told me they needed more information on how to sell the books once they were printed. Well, I knew at least 101 ways – and so I wrote and published that book, which later became the 1001 Ways to Market Your Books for which I’m best known.

Question: When is the best time to start promotion efforts for a manuscript or book?

John’s Answer: I believe the best time to start book promotion is when you have the idea for the book. Right at that time of inception, start talking about the book. Start sharing your thoughts via your social networks and/or blog.

If that idea intimidates you, then at least start 3 to 6 months ahead of your publication date. And then continue to promote your book up to three more years. I believe that every book deserves at least three years of attention from the writer, even if that involves only a few minutes each day. The constant every-day attention on marketing your book works more wonders than all the money you could throw at all the marketing options paraded before authors every day.

Question: How can new writers (those who don’t yet have many publication credits yet) begin to reach out to an audience for their work?

John’s Answer: Build a community, aka a tribe, online. The best way to do that is by writing a blog and then interacting with other like-minded bloggers, website editors, ezine editors, and other book authors writing on your subject. These interactions should drive traffic to your blog where you can capture the names and emails of potential readers. That way you begin to build a list of ezine readers who become the foundation of your fan club or tribe – the people who will help you promote your book when it finally comes out.

Question: What’s your favorite social media platform for writers, if you had to pick one?

John’s Answer: My favorite is Pinterest, because I pin all my blog posts and ideas – and then re-post the most important pins to Twitter (via Pinterest) and then on to Facebook and LinkedIn (via Twitter). So, with one pin I reach all four of the most important social networks. I love doing the least possible and accomplishing the most. Of course, I also repin other people’s posts, retweet other people, and share the posts of other Facebook users.

The other thing I like about Pinterest is that it is forcing me to revisit my previous blog posts and website pages, add graphics, and then pin those graphics. This allows me to reinvigorate all the information on my websites and blogs thereby drawing in new readers and new fans.

Question: What advice do you have for authors who are introverts or who are not good at getting out there and selling their books? Any tricks to help them conquer their lack of love for promotion?

John’s Answer: The neat thing about most Internet promotion and social networks is that they allow book authors to interact with the world while remaining at their desk. I love the power of online promotion because it allows us to reach people around the world from the quiet of our own homes.

The key in any online promotion is to be honest, absolutely honest. Tell the truth. Speak your heart. That’s something any introvert can do, no matter how shy. Someone once said that the key to good writing is to cut a vein and let it bleed on the page. That is also true for book marketing, Internet marketing, publicity, social networking, and any other promotion.

Question: For authors who are creating their own websites, what would you say is the most powerful element for driving sales?

John’s Answer: The most powerful element in any website is the form that captures people’s emails for your weekly newsletter (and that newsletter should be weekly – short so you actually write it every week, and from the heart so you build your tribe).

Most authors entice visitors to sign up for their newsletter by offering them a free ebook, audio MP3, or PDF report that can be downloaded once visitors enter their email address.

Remember: The key to any marketing is building relationships. For books, that means building relationships with other authors, with your readers, with your website visitors, with your ezine readers, with other bloggers, etc. The more relationships you create, the more effective you will be in getting readers for your book and selling that book as well.

The key here is not to treat promotion as a burden. Instead, think of it as a party, because that’s what building a tribe really is – creating one friend at a time and then enjoying the dance of that relationship.

John Kremer is the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, editor of the Book Marketing Tip of the Week ezine, and webmaster of a dozen websites (the most important of which is http://www.bookmarket.com).

If you want a bestselling book, especially a Kindle ebook, why not try writing a parody or spinoff of a hot novel? All of the books listed above are selling well without any book promotion beyond a great tie-in listing on Amazon.com. – http://blog.bookmarket.com/2012/09/parodies-and-spinoffs-of-bestselling.html

The fellow that does the What the Buck videos on YouTube describes in this video how he got 30,000 subscribers to his videos. That’s subscribers! – http://pinterest.com/pin/57983913923503186

Here are a few of the free ebooks about business, Internet marketing, publicity, and investing featured on the Free Books for All website. – http://askjohnkremer.com/free-books-for-all-business-books

Do you realize that every time you read a book without pictures you become a production designer, casting director, and costume designer? Hell, you can be a director if you want to. Whether you know it or not, when you read a book without pictures, your brain fills in the blank spots. You can see the people, how they are dressed, which way they are moving, and what it looks like around them. Neat, huh? – Peter Wooley, author of What! And Give Up Show Business? – http://pinterest.com/pin/57983913923503153

>>> 95% of moms who received text messages from experts on pregnancy and newborn care welcomed the info and found it helpful. – The Female Patient (source of stats). That means that women are welcoming text messages that are useful for what they need.

Bestselling Books Sell Other Products as Well – http://blog.bookmarket.com/2012/09/bestselling-books-sell-other-products.html

Takers Economy: An Inquiry into Illegal File Sharing by Christopher Stewart

Taking the Fear Out of Your Home Mortgage by Patty Crowe

Testify! How remarkable organizations are creating customer evangelists by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This I Believe by Tom Peters

Tomato: Re-Imagine Manifesto by Tom Peters

Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies by Paul Barrs

Trash Proof News Releases by Paul J. Krupin

Twitter Mania Manual by John Kremer

If you would like to offer a PDF ebook for free download, email the title of the book, the author, and a link to the free download to JohnKremer@outlook.com. Thanks for sharing.

As he noted, the better you write, the higher you will go in Ogilvy & Mather (the advertising agency he founded).

While these hints are great for advertising copywriters, they are also generally valuable to book authors as well (except, of course, tip #5: Never write more than two pages on any subject). Tip #5 would be hard to follow as a book author. It’s hard to bind two pages into a stand-alone book.

Book Titles Must Be Memorable to Sell More Books – http://blog.bookmarket.com/2012/09/book-titles-must-be-memorable-to-sell.html

Make Money Doing What You Love: CNN Interviews Gary Vaynerchuk – http://pinterest.com/pin/57983913923442586

Commenting on a post that read: Writers don’t get mad. They just write you into their next novel – as the victim. My comment: The power of a good writer – to kill, to celebrate, to devastate, to inspire, to do whatever the heck they want to do.

Children’s Book Marketing: Spot the Difference – http://blog.bookmarket.com/2012/09/childrens-book-marketing-spot-difference.html

Guest blogging on high traffic websites is always a good idea. – http://www.bookmarket.com/blog-tour-palooza.htm

6 Easy Steps for Book Authors to Build an Email List of Devoted Fans – http://blog.bookmarket.com/2012/08/6-easy-steps-for-book-authors-to-build.html

The One True Law of Marketing: http://askjohnkremer.com/the-one-true-law-of-marketing

If I sell my book to Amazon at $17 retail and they get 60%, which leaves me $6.80. I also pay the cost of shipping my books to Amazon (50 cents per book). And my book costs me $3.00 to produce. I end up making a profit of $3.30 per book. Plus I have to pay a yearly fee of $45 to Amazon, thus cutting my profit even more.

I’d have to sell a lot of books to make it worth all that work. Being realistic, my book will most likely not be a bestseller on Amazon.

Wouldn’t it make sense for me to sell my book on my website and bypass the 60% and fees? On my website I could sell my books and walk away with a profit of $14 vs. $3.30 or less on Amazon.

So what is the point of selling on Amazon? Is it the prestige of saying my book is on Amazon.com? Sure Amazon gets more traffic to their website than my website does, but how would anyone find you with the thousands and thousands of books listed with Amazon?

Am I the only one who does not get this?

I realize you have nothing to lose but the annual fee, shipping your books to them – and if the books don’t sell, you pay for the shipping back to you. Is that the way everyone has their books on Amazon?

Just curious about your thoughts on this!

John’s Answer: You are correct in saying that most book authors don’t make more than a few dollars per sale on book sales to Amazon.com. That’s probably an accurate statement.

But why not take those sales? Those sales are rarely cannibalized from your website. They come via Amazon’s search features and connectivity and sharing capabilities that allow readers to find your book more readily on Amazon than via the search engines.

Do you know where your website ranks in the world of websites? Chances are that your website, like most author websites, gets fewer than 100 visitors a month (based on an Alexa rank of 1 million or above). Let’s say you convert 2% of those visitors – then you make $28 per month on sales from your website.

But, quite honestly, most author websites don’t convert 2% of visitors. Most authors are lucky to get 100 visitors per month. So, walking away with $14 per book on website sales sounds great, but if you don’t have the traffic, that amounts to a hill of beans.

In the meantime, if you work Amazon’s sharing and recommendation features effectively, you could be selling 20 to 100 copies there. Again, that’s not a lot of money either. That’s why it’s so important to work partnerships with other book authors and send each other traffic – whether to your Amazon book page (or author page), your website, your Facebook page, or whatever.

The key, wherever you sell your book, is to get traffic, build fans, capture eyeballs, draw visitors, sign up subscribers – and then create a tribe of avid partisans who will help you sell your books (as well as buy your books themselves).

If you don’t build word of mouth (or word of mouse), you will never make much money via the Internet. Just a fact. That’s what you should be concerned about.

I recommend you sell your books wherever anyone will let you (Amazon.com, B&N.com, Clickbank.com, iStore, your website, etc.).

And then spend your time not worrying about which venue is performing the best, but working to make every venue a bestselling outlet for your books.

And, again, the key here is building partnerships with other book authors and book readers who will help spread the word about the incredible quality and entertainment value of your books.

If you help other authors sell their books, they will help you sell your books. Don’t isolate yourself. Get out their and make friends.

John Kremer

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15,000 Eyeballs Internet Marketing Program: http://www.bookmarket.com/15000eyeballs.htm – Ten lessons on how to get thousands of impressions for you, your book, your blog, or your website. $50

Blog Tour Palooza: http://www.bookmarket.com/blog-tour-palooza.htm – How to carry out a blog tour or virtual book tour that gets millions of impressions, builds your brand, and sells thousands of books. $297

Real Fast Book Marketing: http://www.bookmarket.com/realfastbookmarketing.htm – How to sell 100 to 200 copies of any book in two weeks or less. $97

Book Marketing Magic: http://www.bookmarket.com/novelmarketing.htm – How to market novels, children’s books, memoirs, and more. $48

Amazon Bestseller Campaign: The Inside Secrets to Becoming a Real Bestselling Author on Amazon.com: http://www.bookmarket.com/amazon.htm – You can create a true bestseller on Amazon using the step-by-step guidelines included in this multimedia course. Was $297, but now only $97.

New York Times Bestseller Program: http://www.bookmarket.com/newyorktimesbestsellers.htm – This program offers unprecedented access to the most up-to-date book marketing resources and insider tips to help any author create a New York Times bestselling book. Was $297, but now only $97.

I discovered this in my Facebook stream, but do not know the original source of the photo or the location of the fountain.

Thanks to Debora (in a comment below) for identifying the location of this wonderful fountain: the Amelia Valerio Weinberg Memorial Fountain at the Cincinnati Public Library in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As Open-Site.org noted: Where were you when news of the tsunami hit Japan in 2011? How about when Michael Jackson died? Probably online, according to many experts who claim that social media has become the main media news source for hundreds of millions of people.

Courage is learning when to hang on when you want to let go.

- Mark Amend of LifeLifeHappy.com

Always true without exception. – John Kremer