The Savvy Book Marketer

4 Simple Steps to Creating a Vanity URL for Your Amazon Author Central Page

2012-01-26T06:08:00-06:00

Amazon now allows authors to create a "vanity URL" or personalized web address that points to their Author Central page on Amazon.

Author Central is a great place to feature your bio, videos, and latest tweets and blog posts. It's especially important for authors with more than one title for sale on Amazon, because it shows a summary of all of your books.

My vanity URL looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/author/danalynnsmith

Here are four simple steps to creating your own Amazon Author Central vanity URL:

1. Login to your Amazon Author Central account. If you don't already have an Author Central account, you can create one at this same page:

https://authorcentral.amazon.com

2. Click on the Profile tab.

3. Click on the Add Link button at the top right of the page, next to Author Page URL.

4. Enter your preferred URL name and click Save. Most authors will probably use their author name in the URL, but give it some consideration first, because you can't change it once it's assigned.

Learn more about optimizing your presence on Amazon in my how-to guide, How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

Book Marketing Roundup

2012-01-19T11:18:31-06:00

Authors and publishers, I hope your new year is off to a great start! If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to develop or update your book marketing plan and schedule promotional activities for this year. To learn more about how to create your book marketing plan, download my free report: Create a Book Marketing Plan That Sells Books.

Also check out my new training programs for authors:

How to Promote Your Novel, featuring Joanna Penn, will be presented as a webinar on February 9.

Make Money with Teleseminars and Webinars is now available as a video training program.

If you are a Kindle author and you're considering signing up for the new KDP Select program, read this article first to learn more.

Here are some more book marketing tools and resources for you:

89 Book Marketing Ideas That Will Change Your Life – article on the Author Media blog.

If you have a WordPress blog, be sure to download this free report from MaAnna Stephenson at Blog Aid: How to Back Up Your WordPress Site.

Paul Krupin at Direct Contact PR is offering a free book publicity planning calendar for 2012.

Learn more about making money with affiliate programs in this article by Pat Flynn: Top 30 Tips for Successful Affiliate Marketing

That's all the news for now. For more book marketing advice and resources, be sure to subscribe to this blog so you don't miss any posts and sign up for my book marketing newsletter.

4 Blog Marketing Check and Correct Actions for Increased Traffic

2012-01-18T06:00:00-06:00

A blog is one of the best promotional tools available to authors. In today's guest post, Judy Cullins shares four strategies for boosting traffic to your blog.

Just starting a blog? Have one going, but not enough visitors to suit you? We all need to constantly check and correct our blog marketing to see if it's "the most it can be."

Here are 4 check and correct situations:

1. Remember that both quality and quantity count to increase your credibility as the go-to-person in your niche.

Do you wonder if they will ever come? Don't quit too soon. I did 5 years ago. Then, I created a new blog marketing plan. I replaced my article marketing at ezinearticles.com and other sites with a new business. I wrote to educate and entertain my book writing and business marketing audience so they could make money from their craft. Why? Because of three payoffs.

Payoff One. Blog pages have a higher potential to rank in Google searches, and my already good traffic soared and over doubled the last two years. I check these numbers each month with Google Analytics. You can too.

Payoff Two. By sharing new blog posts with other professionals in the book and business fields, I reached new audiences who appreciate my how to's and visit my site. Now, I am a guest blogger for 10 leaders in the field. Just this month I posted one blog article on LinkedIn with John Kremer that brought a good amount of new traffic. Over 130 people a month become subscribers to my site. That's important. Because...

Payoff Three. You have a leg up on staying in touch every week or so with your audience, enjoying their blog comments, and continuing to convert sales to much bigger numbers.

2. To stay in the high traffic zone, increase your blog postings to at least 2 a week.

If you are only blogging once or less a week, and are not submitting your blogs to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn groups, you will miss out on building your community and eventually getting sales. This information came from a social media report with graphs showing the difference in results, but it also just makes good sense.

3. Increasing your quantity will keep your name in internet lights.

Use a professional writer or book coach to check and correct obvious errors and find out what will engage and hook your audience to read the whole article. If your audience turns away from boredom, you will lose them for sure. From my own experience, 10 points in a blog is plenty. If you are going for under 600-700 words per blog, divide and conquer! My own example--Using my 1800 word "Book Marketing 10 Mistakes and Solutions." I produced three shorter and easier-to-read blogs with specific keyword rich titles that Google loves. Writing 3 related same category blog posts increases your chances to show you as the trusted authority and please Google at the same time.

Stimulate your Sleepy Muse. To produce new, juicy articles, just copy and paste old ones into your writing program such as Word. Use only some of the former blog, and add your hook and how to's and end it by repeating a few benefits. When you add your own wisdom and specific examples, you make it irresistible for new eyes to notice and finish. Remember, you want them to comment and subscribe to your blog.

4. Get professional feedback on your first five blog posts.

Make your audience so happy they'll never leave you or ask for a divorce. You don't know what you don't know, so incorporate a coach's instructions on a best beginning, middle and end of your blog, because you don’t want to ramble and repeat yourself. The one writing sin we all relate to is "redundancy." We don't like it and take it as "talking down" to us. My own rule of thumb--write one blog in one hour. Finish the draft the next day when you have a fresh mind. Follow that by sharing it with a savvy writing person who knows your game and will give you appropriate editing. The third day, you can be proud and sure that your blog will win the hearts and minds of your audience.

Brainstorm your first five blog posts with a writing coach, and in just one session, like my client Jeanne, generate 7-10 blog titles and get one blog developed enough to get final editing on. This takes about 40 minutes.

When you follow these tips you’ll generate fame and fortune because you will stand out from the crowd. When you don’t follow them, you’ll generate results you may not be happy with. Working alone will not produce a quality blog, even for professional writers. Now you know that blog feedback will make you more confident in your writing, and take you to new heights in your visibility and credibility.

What skills and actions you hadn’t thought of did you get from this blog? What will you incorporate in your future blogging?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When you want more fresh how-to blog writing and marketing tips, join Judy Cullins, 25 year writing and book coach. Book and Blog Coach Judy Cullins helps you transform your blog into an income stream for life. Author of 14 books for business people and authors includes "LinkedIn Marketing: 8 Best Tactics to Build Book and Business Sales," and “Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast!” Judy offers free, weekly publications on writing and online marketing.

Can Your Readers Find You?

2012-01-16T09:01:41-06:00

Author websites and blogs are an essential book promotion tool. But far too many websites lack contact information for the author or make the contact information hard to find. This seems to be especially true of author websites that are on the Blogger platform.

What if someone wants to ask a question about you or your book, interview you, request a review copy, invite you to guest post on their blog, tell you how much they enjoyed reading your book, or suggest a joint venture? How will they find you?

While it's important to make it easy for people to contact you, it's a good idea to protect your email address from spammers who harvest email addresses online. One option is to use a contact form on your website. There are various plug-ins that work with WordPress.org sites, or you can use a service such as EmailMeForm.

Another option is to use an encrypted email link. I use the Enkoder form from Hivelogic. If you click the "email me" icon below my photo in the right column, a blank email addressed to me should automatically pop up. Encrypted email links are not entirely foolproof, but they work well.

However, I have found that there are a few email programs that are not compatible with the Enkoder, so I have also added an image just below it that contains my email address. Because this is a JPG image, rather than text, it should not be visible to bots that are harvesting email addresses.

Some people try to disguise their email address by inserting various characters such as myname*at*website.com. According to my research, many bots are sophisticated enough to see through that tactic. Probably the worst thing you can do is to place an actual link to your email address on your site. That would be highly visible to bots that are searching for email addresses to sell to spammers.

Take a look at your website now and see how easy it is for people to find you and whether your email address is secure.

Want to see more articles like this? Subscribe to this blog so you won't miss any posts.

How Can You Profit from Teleseminars and Webinars?

2012-01-13T09:40:36-06:00

Teleseminars and webinars are a terrific way for nonfiction authors to share the message of their book, do educational presentations, interview other authors and experts, hold group coaching sessions, and more.

Using a free or low-cost teleseminar service, the host sets up a "bridge line" for participants to dial into at the appointed time, and then does a presentation. Programs can be presented by single speaker, done in an interview format with two or more people, or conducted as Q&A or coaching sessions. A webinar or webcast is similar to a teleseminar, but participants are able to view visuals such as a slideshow.

Here are just a few of the benefits of hosting your own teleseminars or webinars:

The events are free or very low cost to produce.

There's no travel required and you can conduct the event from the comfort of your home or office.

It's a great way to build your reputation as an expert in your field and to build your mailing list with the names of the attendees, which can lead to sales in the future.

You can make money by charging for the event or by conducting a free teleseminar and then offering attendees a paid product or service at the end of the presentation.

Another way to profit is to repurpose your content into other products such as audio programs, ebooks and home study courses.

There are many benefits to attendees:

It's easy for participants to attend via their phone or computer, with no travel required.

Usually a recording of the session is available for those who are not available during the time of the call.

Most teleseminars have a question and answer session, allowing audience members to participate and get input from the speaker.

Participants can learn a lot in a short period of time.

In my new How to Make Money with Teleseminars and Webinars training program you will learn how to profit from both free and paid events, how to earn additional revenue by repurposing content, how to host and record events, how to use visuals to enhance the presentation, and how to ensure a smooth running event.

In addition, you'll discover how to handle registrations and payments, how to promote the event for maximum attendance, and how to choose a teleseminar or webinar service provider.

This training program includes a 60-minute video presentation with a slideshow, an audio recording of the presentation, a copy of the slides for review, a resource guide, an event planning checklist, and a guide to choosing a service provider.

Put the power of teleseminars and webinars to work for you. Learn more and register now for this valuable training program and you'll be on your way to profiting from virtual events.

Use the Power of Local Promotion to Sell Books

2012-01-11T06:00:00-06:00

In today's guest post, Patricia Fry shows authors how to use local promotion to sell more books. This article is excerpted from her new book, Promote Your Book: Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. The article was originally published in The Independent, the magazine of the Independent Book Publishers Association, and is reprinted with permission.

Use the Power of Local Promotion to Sell Books

Yes, the Internet offers a wealth of marketing opportunities for books, but you can still generate a great deal of interest and spur a great many sales by marketing a book in selected physical communities, including regions, states, cities, and neighborhoods, that have something to do with its content and/or its author.

Here are six options to consider.

1. Solicit interviews in local newspapers.

For small-town papers, the simple fact that “a long-time resident” or “local author” wrote a book can be news, and the editors may be interested in interviewing the author. At the very least, see if you can get the book mentioned in the calendar or entertainment sections.

It’s more difficult to generate interviews in cities, but certainly not impossible. Although “New Book by Hometown Author” isn’t newsworthy in large metropolitan areas, editors might be interested in interviewing the author if the book relates to a current or upcoming event, something trendy, something interesting to a fairly wide audience, and/or a celebrity.

Is the book about seniors, pets, finance, travel, health/fitness, business, inspiration, or the arts? Editors of sections that relate to its content and columnists who write about its subject may also be interested in doing an interview or a feature story.

Marian Clayton started the marketing campaign for her true-crime book, Murder with a Twist, which takes place in her hometown in Colorado, by getting press in local newspapers. “I contacted reporters for newspapers in two different Colorado cities,” she reports. “They interviewed me and both wrote great articles that attracted a lot of attention. The publicity was great. I sold approximately 25 books in each community after the articles appeared. And,” she says, “the stories created additional opportunities for promoting my book.”

2. Arrange for press in regional publications.

Your geographic area and the author’s may have numerous large and small regional periodicals. I’ve found good lists of local magazines through chambers of commerce, and of course you can do an Internet search, and cull leads from Writer’s Market.

Then study the periodicals on your list to see which ones are for general audiences and which specialize in, for example, sports, home and garden, fashion and beauty, children, or writing.

Do they run book reviews? Do they publish human interest stories? Explore the possibilities and then contact the appropriate editors and suggest a story or stories that should appeal to their readers.

3. Get involved in local events.

Every community is a-bustle at one time or another. Think county fairs, school events, book and art festivals, flea markets, cook-offs, community barbecues, auctions, wine-tastings, and fundraisers of all sorts. Many of these events provide opportunities for selling books.

I once took a booth at a county fair to promote my local-history book. I designed my booth like an old-fashioned living room and spent the entire 10 days talking to people about the early history of our area. Of course, I also sold books—lots of them.

I’ve rented booths at numerous other events too, including book festivals, flea markets, and art fairs, and I led historical tours via trolley at our annual Ojai Day celebration for several years and sold books to many of the passengers.

Sources of information about upcoming local events include the calendar sections of local newspapers, the chamber of commerce, and the local library. For information on events related to specific topics, get on the mailing lists for camera clubs, historical societies, quilting groups, and more.

Cherie Brant, the author of several Ventura County history books designed for long-time residents, newcomers to the area, history buffs, and tourists, promotes locally through talks, historic home tours, and book festivals. She recommends creating “a marketing plan that identifies every local audience you can think of and the most effective ways to get your book in front of them.”

4. Attend meetings of local groups.

Since networking is vital for successful book promotion, it makes sense not only to join groups related to a particular book but also to join more general local groups where you can interact with potential buyers (and recommenders) face to face.

I have sold books at my Toastmasters club meetings, chamber of commerce mixers, writing group gatherings, meetings of executives and retired executives, women’s club meetings, Red Hat Club luncheons, class reunion committee meetings, church auxiliary meetings, and others.

You generally meet new people at these gatherings, and everyone you meet knows many other people, some of whom might be interested in your book on World War II, cats, celebrity pets, automobile recalls, Dancing with the Stars stars, or anger management made easy.

5. Pitch a book as a premium to a local business.

If your book involves a product or service, you may be able to sell thousands of copies to a company that will use it as a giveaway for customers or as part of an employee incentive program.

A local pig farm or pork packaging plant might be interested in using a cookbook featuring pork recipes to attract more customers. A local bank that is gearing up to observe its 100th anniversary might use a book on financial planning for the stages of life or money tips for college students as a giveaway for new customers as part of its celebration. A resort undertaking a major remodeling project might buy 500 copies of a novel set in its area at a discount to hand out at its grand reopening.

6. Give home parties.

Although it may seem bizarre to consider inviting people over to hear a spiel about your book in Tupperware party–style, it is a way to get exposure. Call friends and acquaintances in your area and ask them to invite their friends and neighbors to your book party.

Make it an evening of fun: give a demonstration related to your book; provide costumes and ask guests to help you act out a part of your story; serve refreshments; and offer door prizes. For a novel featuring the Kentucky Derby, you could serve mint juleps in glasses with racehorses painted on them and give glasses to the people who purchase books or perform best as actors.

Consider inviting other local authors to your parties and asking them to bring their books so guests will have more titles to choose from.

About the Author

Patricia Fry, the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) runs Matilija Press and is the author of more than 30 books. This article is derived from her latest book, Promote Your Book: Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author, published by Allworth Press. The book is also available at BN.com, Amazon.com, and Indiebound.com.

Upcoming Book Awards and Contests

2012-01-09T11:06:20-06:00

Deadlines are coming up soon for several book award competitions.

Winners of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award will receive a publishing contract with Penguin Books. Entries are accepted from January 23 through February 5, 2012, and it's best to enter as early as possible. Unpublished manuscripts and self-published books are accepted.

If you published a book during 2011, consider entering one or more book awards programs to generate recognition and publicity for your book. Some of these programs will also accept books published in prior years.

There are a number of these competitions, and the entry fees can really add up, so you'll want to be selective. Here are deadlines for several popular award programs:

The Ben Franklin Awards, sponsored by IBPA, is considered by many to be the most prestigious award for independent publishers. The deadline for entries has been extended to January 15, 2012.

ForeWord Book Awards - $1,500 cash prize, sponsored by ForeWord, a book review publication (January 15)

Nautilus Book Awards - for nonfiction books (January 31)

Next Generation Indie Book Awards (February 24)

Dan Poynter's Global eBook Awards (March 12)

IPPY Awards (March 15)

National Indie Excellence Book Awards (April 15)

Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards - $3,000 cash prize (April 20)

There are also award competitions geared toward specific types of books. See this list for ideas. Be sure to read the eligiblity and submission instructions carefully when entering.

Top 10 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page

2012-01-05T06:00:00-06:00

Social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can be effective tools for building an author platform, making valuable connections and promoting books. In today's guest post, book marketing guru John Kremer shares some terrific tips for getting more "likes" on your Facebook page.

Top 10 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page

by John Kremer

A prominent Facebook page can be crucial to your book marketing and book promotion campaigns. If you want your Facebook fan page to be effective and stand out, you have to get people to find and like your page. Here are 10 ways to promote your Facebook page.

1. Customize your Facebook page URL.

I was surprised to find a Facebook page with more than 45,000 fans – and yet no vanity URL. Vanity URLs make your Facebook page much easier to remember – both for you and your potential fans. For example, my book author page is http://www.facebook.com/thejohnkremer.

You can set up a vanity username by going to http://www.facebook.com/username.

2. Put your Facebook page URL in your email signature.

Now this is pretty obvious. You already put your website or blog in your email signature. Now add your Twitter profile and Facebook page (one or all of them, if you have more than one Facebook page).

3. Write a blog post about your new Facebook page.

Give people reasons to like your Facebook page. Make a list of 5 to 7 reasons on how they will benefit by liking your page.

4. Tag other people’s high-traffic Facebook pages in your updates.

Hitch your wagon to a star. Refer to, tag, and link to other Facebook pages, especially those with tons of fans or those targeted to your interests or Facebook page focus. Their fans will often come back to check out your page.

5. Ask your Twitter followers to like your Facebook page.

Don’t just ask them to like your Facebook page. Ask them to join in the conversation. Give them reasons to get involved.

6. Add a Facebook Like box.

Place this in your blog/website sidebar. This is a given. A must. But when you do this, make sure you set the options to include face pile. That way, your Like box will show your readers how many of their friends like the page as well.

7. Ask your fans to post a link.

People like to be asked. And many like to help your out, especially if they really do like you or your work. And, if they are already your fans, it’s a simple step to share their fandom.

At Monk Development, they asked their fans to post a link to their company Facebook page on the same day. As a result of this one simple step, they doubled their average daily likes.

8. Comment on other people’s Facebook posts.

You can comment on other Facebook fan page posts – or the posts of your friends. This can be just as useful as blog commenting.

9. Invite your ezine subscribers.

If you have opt-in email lists or an email newsletter, make sure to invite your readers and subscribers to like your page. Give them reasons to visit and participate.

10. Encourage your contacts to ask questions on your Facebook wall.

Via your website, blog, ezine, tweets, etc., you can invite your tribe to ask you questions via your Facebook wall. Sooner or later, as they ask questions, they will like your page.

About the Author

This article was excerpted from 31 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page, on the Ask John Kremer book marketing website. John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Book and other book marketing guides, is a top book marketing expert and is also the founder of The Book Marketing Network, a social network for authors and publishers.

Learn More

Visit this page to learn how to add the Facebook Like button and other Facebook social plugins on your website.

Learn more about how to use Facebook to promote your book and yourself in the Facebook Guide for Authors by Dana Lynn Smith.

Update the Copyright Date on Your Website

2012-01-02T06:42:00-06:00

It's hard to believe that it's already 2012!

As we enter the new year, don't forget to update the copyright date on your blog and website. Having an old copyright makes your site look out of date.

If your site has been in existence for several years, use a range of dates. My copyright notice is listed in the "About This Site" section at the bottom of the right column, and it reads "Copyright 2008-2012 by Texana Publishing Consultants, LLC."

New Year Brings New Beginnings for Authors

2011-12-30T06:24:00-06:00

The dawn of a new year always fills me with anticipation for the possibilities that lie ahead.

This is the ideal time to think about your goals as an author, what you want to accomplish, and how to get from here to there. Here are some questions to consider:

Do you have a written book marketing plan?

Do you understand who is the target market for your book and how to reach those people?

Have your prioritized your promotional activities so that you're devoting most of your time to those actions that have the highest chance of success?

Do you need to learn more about the publishing business or learn new skills in marketing?

Which promotional activities are working well for you, what doesn't work so well, and why?

Are you managing your time well, or spending a lot of time web surfing or doing things that have a low return on your investment of time?

Do you take action on the things that you learn about book promotion, or just continue to seek more ideas, looking for the "magic bullet" for selling more books?

Do you schedule time every day (even if it's just 10 minutes) to promote your book?

I encourage everyone to spend some time this month to develop or refine your book marketing plan and schedule promotional activities for this year. To learn more about how to create your book marketing plan, download my free report: Create a Book Marketing Plan That Sells Books.

I wish each of you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Authors, Are You Using Your Amazon Author Central Page?

2011-12-28T06:00:00-06:00

In today's guest post, Laura Pepper Wu shares some great tips about taking advantage of the Author Central feature on Amazon.com.

If you are selling a book or eBook through Amazon, you should absolutely be taking advantage of Author Central on Amazon.

I know, I know that you are thinking “GROAN!! Yet another social media site to keep up with.”

But actually it’s not all that much work at all, and once it is up and running (i.e. you have filled out your basic info, added a photo, imported your blog) you will rarely have to touch it again.

The benefits:

For most books and genres (there are exceptions), it is in the author’s best interests to be the ‘face’ or ‘brand’ behind the book. The more that your potential reader can identify with you, the more invested they will feel in your book, and the more likely they are to buy it.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, and of course you must be somewhat likable in order for them to relate to, but in general it’s true! So get some pictures up, add some personable facts about yourself, and if you are already writing a blog whip that up there too.

Things to Do on Author Central:

Add your photo & biography. Be the ‘face’ of your book.

Link your blog - Import your blog using the RSS feed. You can also add your twitter feed if you wish and upload a book trailer if you have one. People who stumble upon your book on Amazon through a recommendation or through the ‘commonly bought with’ listing won’t see your personal blog or other online PR efforts. So use author central to put your best foot forward without redirecting them away from Amazon and their browsing/ shopping space.

View and edit the list of books you have written/ edited – because the Amazon system doesn’t always get it right. If you have written one or more books this is great because it will link your titles together, and allow your readers to find all of your work.

Edit your product description and about the author section, add any professional reviews you have had. I can’t emphasize how important – and often under looked – a good product description is. It’s essentially sales copy, so it should focus on benefits to the customer (not the features), and should be as compelling as possible. It’s the best advertising for the book you will get! See this fantastic article on how to write a good product description from Digitalbookworld.com. Here is an excerpt:

“You want to get your most glowing, punchy, exciting quotes out front. Don’t hold back. This is a MAJOR section where buyers abort the purchase funnel. Therefore this is where you need to really grab their attention. If you don’t excite the reader here, you will quite possibly lose a sale.

After these initial 3 quotes, put a brief style description of your book. Do NOT go into specifics about the book. You will lose the excitement you just built. Keep your energy up and driving towards a sale. Remember this is ad copy not a by-the-numbers description or even your typical back cover copy. This is a sales pitch.”

Track Your Sales – Find out where your sales are happening using the geographic location function and find out what your Amazon ranking.

Finally;

Cover image – If you have an Amazon page then you probably already have a cover image on your book’s page (if not, what are you doing here? Run over there NOW). However, don’t feel that you must use the exact image of your book – as long as it has a strong resemblance you are golden.

In my case I used a bolder version of the book cover by enhancing the color and cutting off the bottom part of the cover to make the title more visible. Remember that it’s important to utilize the thumbnail size as efficiently as possible.

In sum… if you already have a blog, twitter, book trailer and so on, then there is no extra work involved other than syncing it all together in one place on your Author Central page. Put in a couple of hours work doing so, get your product description up to scratch and you’ll have another great tool in your book marketing arsenal!

About the Author

Laura Pepper Wu is a writer and the co-founder of 30 Day Books: a book studio. She successfully marketed 30 Day GMAT Success to become the number 1 selling GMAT guide on the Amazon kindle, top 10 in print, as well as in the top 3 of all study guides on the Kindle. She blogs about her marketing experiences at laurapepperwu.wordpress.com. Laura is available for book marketing consultation and advice, and would love to hear from you! Connect with Laura on Twitter or at laura {at) 30daybooks {dot} com.

Learn More

To learn more about how to promote your books on Amazon, check out How to Sell More Books on Amazon.

Book Marketing Roundup

2011-12-20T07:52:52-06:00

First, I want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season! I'm looking forward to taking a break and spending time with my extended family.

I'm excited about all of the new content and programs that I'm creating for authors and publishers in the new year. In the meantime, be sure to let me know how I can help you learn to sell more books. Take this quick survey and enter to win some free book marketing guides.

Yesterday I hosted Kathleen Gage for her information-packed webinar, Who Else Wants to be a Kindle #1 Bestseller. After the presentation, Kathleen stayed on the line for more than an hour answering questions! A video replay of the session is available here through December 23.

A big thank you goes to all of the book marketing experts who have shared their expertise through guest posts on The Savvy Book Marketer blog this year. Upcoming guest posts include:

Are You Using Your Amazon Author Central Page? by Laura Pepper Wu

Top 10 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page, by John Kremer

Use the Power of Local Promotion, by Patricia Fry

If you haven't already subscribed to this blog, sign up now so you won't miss any posts.

That's all for now - I'm off to bake a bunch of cookies!

Who Else Wants to be a Kindle #1 Bestseller?

2011-12-14T06:00:00-06:00

This week I hosted one of my favorite marketing experts, Kathleen Gage, for her free webinar, Who Else Wants to be a Kindle #1 Bestseller. A video replay of the session is available here through December 23.

Not only will you discover the absolute easiest way to take your Kindle ebook to the top of the charts, you will learn how to do so with very little cost.

Kathleen has long been regarded as one of the leading experts on Amazon.com book launches. When she discovered how simple making a Kindle a bestseller is she couldn't wait to share this information with as many people as possible.

Sales of ebook reading devices are EXPLODING and so are the sales of Kindle ebooks. In fact, Kindle ebooks are now even outselling printed books on Amazon.

You need to have your books available in Kindle format and you need to know how to market them in the easiest way possible. Don't miss this chance to learn from a master.

Over the past several years, I have attended a number of Kathleen's programs, both free and paid, and I've always been impressed with her marketing savvy and the value she delivers.

Yes, Kathleen will make an offer for her full Kindle training program . . . but only after she delivers on her promise of solid gold content in this webinar.

7 Web-Writing Strategies to Help Your Reader Stay Instead of Bouncing Away

2011-12-13T06:18:00-06:00

Writing effective copy for the web is different from writing books. In today's guest post, Jan Bear shares some important tips about how to keep readers on your website longer.

Writing for the Web

You can encourage your reader to stay on your site if you consider factors that make web reading a challenge. Every kind of writing has its own set of rules, determined by the medium. The "inverted pyramid" structure of the modern news story came about because reporters sending on the American Civil War battlefront had to take turns sending paragraph by paragraph over the only telegraph in town. So they sent the most important information first. Writing for the web has its own set of best practices, just as much determined by the medium as any other kind of writing -- from brochures to books to four-panel comics to billboards. Here are 7 readability factors that make a big difference whether a visitor stays and reads your site or immediately bounces off to somewhere else.

1. Your Readers Are Using a Backlit, Strobing Screen

The computer screen is a tool for creating eye strain. It's like staring into a fluorescent bulb. And it's not just the light. It also goes dark and redraws itself (the refresh rate) at a speed too quick for your conscious mind to see. But your eyes are having to reorient themselves every time it refreshes. Don't make your readers' eyes work any harder than necessary. Keep plenty of white space on your page, and use images as much as possible to carry or at least reinforce information. Keep paragraphs short, 6 lines maximum, 3-4 on average, and a 1-line paragraph every now and then. Shorter sentences help, too. Readers absorb information in sentence-sized bites. Break up long thoughts into shorter sentences, and even an occasional effective sentence fragment. And always put lists of information into bulleted or numbered lists.

2. Your Readers Are on a Mission

Most people go to the web looking for something. They want an answer to a question or a solution to a problem. When they stop to browse and read, it's generally at a place they already know, like Facebook or a favorite site. If they're coming to your site for the first time, they're probably looking for something. For an author, this is your opportunity:

Tell them about your book
Make sure they can find it on your site
Give them a chance to buy it

Usability studies show that people will look around a site for only a few seconds to decide whether they've come to the right place or not. You do yourself and your reader a service to make your offer clear and immediate and right up front. Then deliver.

3. Your Readers Use Google to Find What They're Looking For

Searchers get information by using one of the search engines (Google has 65 percent of the search volume) to find it on the web. If the search engines can't find you, the people actively searching for your site won't find you either. Get your site in front of your target audience by doing the simple things that communicate with the search engine robots:

Use the terms your users are searching for
Put the information where the robots are looking for it

There are strategies for finding and using keywords and technical know-how to communicate with the Google robots that are outside the scope of this post. The point is that your on-site search engine optimization comes down to those two fairly simple steps.

4. Your Readers May Not Be Native English-Speakers

China is now the world's largest English-speaking country, followed by India, and people around the world are scrambling to learn English as a means to participate in the global economy. That means that the vast majority of the English-speaking world speak English as their second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.) language. You're wise to take these people into account as you write. It's not a matter of "dumbing down"; "dumb" is not the problem. Your readers from Indonesia, Africa or China may be working hard to master the language as well as your subject matter. Don't make it unnecessarily complicated. And even your English-speaking readers from English-speaking countries will be grateful if you:

Define jargon terms or include a glossary on your site
Don't use a 5-syllable word if a 1-syllable word will do as well
If a 5-syllable word is all you've got, make the meaning clear in context
Be careful with idiomatic expressions (like "shake a leg") or geographical connotations ("What did you expect? They're from Lake Oswego")

In all cases, you're writing for your audience. If you really don't expect anybody outside your home town to read your stuff, you can just say "Joneses' Gulch" and expect everybody to laugh. But if you want to acquire new readers, make sure your writing is comprehensible to them.

5. Your Control over the Look of Your Site Is Limited

What a browser program, such as Firefox, Chrome or Safari, does is to compile a page based on the information in the HTML code. The user gets to tell the browser to increase or decrease the size of the type or to take up a full screen or a small part of the screen. They also can block your Flash animations or popups. What that means for you is that you have limited control over how the text appears on your reader's screen. If you want your site to be readable, lean toward simple designs in vertical patterns. Put the big, fancy Flash stuff on optional pages, so that people can go there when they choose to. I read the web on my iPhone, and have run across pages with a big "sign-up-for-my-mailing-list" popup. I can't make it go away and can't read around it. I refuse to sign up for a list just to find out if the site has any useful information on it. So those sites lose a reader right away. That brings up the whole mobile revolution. More and more people are reading the web on their smart phones and tablet computers. If you have a WordPress site, you can easily install a plugin that will automatically detect that your reader is reading on a smart phone and change the format of the site for readability on that platform. In any case, take those people into consideration.

6. The Web Is as Distracting as a Pinball Machine

The whole time you're trying to communicate with your readers, they have flashing, blinking, beeping, pinging distractions vying for their attention. If you want them to keep listening, you need to get to the point. Answer their questions and meet their needs. Be entertaining and engaging, and then tell them what to do next.

7. Reading on the Web Is Not 'Leisurely'

People reading on the web are looking for information. They want it entertaining, they want it relevant, and they want it now. If you give them what they want on that first visit, they may bookmark the site to browse later. If not, they bounce, and they're gone. What's your pet peeve or your biggest turnoff about reading on the web? Answer in the comments. Better writing for the web will help us all make the web a better place.

About the Author

Jan Bear helps authors rule the age of digital publishing. New media, new ways of communicating, and new marketing methods make it possible to get your book into the hands of your ideal audience. At MarketYourBookBlog.com she explores authors' strategies and opportunities in the wake of the digital publishing revolution.

5 Ways to Sell More Books This Holiday Season

2011-12-09T07:37:33-06:00

If you write fiction, children's books, or the sort of nonfiction titles that people might give as gifts, December is prime selling season.

It's not too late to give your books a holiday sales push. Here are five ideas:

1. Send an email to your opt-in mailing list pointing out that your book makes a great last-minute gift for . . . (describe the kind of person who would enjoy your book).

2. Ask your friends and family to recommend your book as a gift item to others or buy your book to give to others.

3. Promote the book on your social networks, but be cautious about annoying your followers with too much promotion. It's best if you can encourage people to share the message with others. For example: "Know anyone who needs a gift for a preschooler? My book . . . is fun and educational . . ."

4. If you deliver your books or ebooks directly to customers, consider a holiday promotion of some kind, such a holiday discount or buy one and get one free (or half price) for a friend. If you're selling through Amazon, you could offer special bonuses with the book, if people email their Amazon receipt number to you.

5. If you have a Kindle book, remind people that they can give Kindle ebooks as gifts – just click the yellow "Give as a Gift" button on the right side of any Kindle book page on Amazon.

There you have it – five ways to boost your book sales this holiday season. If your book doesn't lend itself to gift giving, consider planning a promotional push for mid-January.