The Publishing Answers Blog

Book Marketing Opportunity for Fiction Authors

2009-11-10T19:12:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share the announcement below with you for two reasons. First, it looks like a good idea and I know my friend Carolyn wouldn't be involved in anything she didn't truly believe in. Second, it's a good example of authors supporting other authors. Carolyn shares success stories in her newsletter and I'm on her email media release list so that I can share her news when it fits my readers.

For the most part authors and writers help each other generously. If you aren't tweeting, making notes on Facebook, blogging etc. about other writers events or accomplishments, you're missing some wonderful opportunities just to be a part of a community and to feel good about helping others.
I encourage you to try it, pretty sure you'll be hooked in no time. If you're already doing so, how do you support other authors? Would love to hear your ideas.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

ANNOUNCEMENT
Lillian Cauldwell and Carolyn Howard-Johnson invite authors to participate in a frugal and fabulous reading and cross-promotion adventure

Starting March, 2010.
Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio will feature authors of published books of fiction to join in the first-ever serial weekly literary festival where authors read brief excerpts from their books over PIVTR’s radio network. (Nonfiction and Poetry Weeks will come later in 2010.)

Authors may book a reading on what may be a first-of-its-kind event:
It is only $10 for 10 minutes. Authors may contact lillian.cauldwell@gmail.com before January 15, 2010.
The special will air March 21 thru March 28, 10 to 11 p.m. (New York time) except Wednesday evening when the show starts 10:30 and ends at 11:30 p.m.

Text Lillian at 734-277-2733 Or E-mail: LSaraCauldwell@gmail.com for details!

The planned program also includes:

Authors book reviews will be posted on Carolyn's The New Book Review blog: http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com. That blog was recently named to Online Universities 101 Best Blogs for Readers list.

A special authors' page will be created on Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio (www.pivtr.com) Web page.

Lillian will make MP3 streams (html codes) of participating authors' presentations available for $3 each plus shipping. Proceeds from the MP3 streams will go to Mission Socorro and Capuchin Soup Kitchen to help the homeless, migrant workers and recently released prisoners get back on their feet.

Passionate Voices Radio is based on three principles: to market and promote published mid-list and unknown authors to the media; to provide a conduit for voices not otherwise heard in this noisy world; and to provide quality educational and informative content to listeners so they can use it immediately in their spiritual, personal and business lives.

Lillian Cauldwell is an author of one award-winning nonfiction book, "Teenagers! A Bewildered Parent's Guide." She writes multi-cultural paranormal mysteries for mid teens (9 to 14 years) and mentors junior and senior high school students to write their first books. http://lilliancauldwell.com and http://internetvoicesradio.com.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an award-winning novelist and poet. She is also the author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

The pair plans future reading festivals for poets and writers of nonfiction

Price Wars- Where Will You Buy?

2009-11-05T18:46:00.006-05:00

I'm sure you've heard by now, but at least for a short time Walmart, Target and a couple other major stores are selling top books for 9, 8 even as low as $7. And these aren't the little cheap paperbacks you'd expect to be in that price range. Many of the offerings are hardcover books with cover prices closer to the $20 range. T

You may know about the sale, but you may not know they're losing money on every sale. Also, you'll notice I didn't say they're losing money on every customer who buys at these bargain basement prices. They will lose on the few who walk out with just books, but for the rest, the books are what is known as a "loss leader", an item that the store knows it will lose money on (or maybe break even) in hopes that while a customer is there they find plenty of other stuff to buy. Maybe it'll be impulse purchases, maybe it will be "since I'm already here I might as well do the rest of my shopping" kinds of purchases but they're banking on making up the difference somewhere.

As far as other retailers, especially independent bookstores, something else you may not know is that some of them started to plan to stock their stores that way once they heard about the prices. Why would they want to do that when they normally buy at wholesale anyway? Because these prices, though they're retail in all reality, are even better than normal wholesale. For example a normal bookstore owner can purchase at 40% off the cover price so they get a $20 book for $12. Walmart may be selling that same book right now for $7 or 8. Buying them for their own stores sounded like a no-brainer except that Walmart (and the others) figured that out and put a quantity limit on those book purchases. So now what's happening is Walmart is buying at the same price as the other stores, but taking a planned loss of several dollars. There's no way independent or other smaller retailers can possibly keep up with that. In the short term, the little guys lose again.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet about this whole scenario is the situation we face as author/consumers. If you've got books on your holiday shopping list where will you buy?Will you understandably try to save on your own budget and buy at the big box stores, or will you pay a few bucks more at the smaller store you normally patronize? True, we've always been able to find bargains, but this is a whole new realm beyond in many ways.

In one sense, the big stores have made these books almost valueless. We expect to pay only a few dollars at used book sales, but brand new, especially hardcover, has always had a certain expectation of cost. Some people have even been known to save up specifically to buy a hardcover version or present one as a special gift. I'm not sure the same feel is there at the cost of a couple of cups of coffee. Will you support your own industry with the higher price point purchase this time around? Can we afford to? Can we afford not to?

Where does the path lead from here for publishers, distributors, for authors? No one knows just yet because it really is uncharted territory for the most part. One thing that is for sure though is it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Sometimes It Only Takes One

2009-10-27T19:09:00.002-04:00

I'm pretty sure that there isn't an author out there who can say they've never been discouraged. Maybe now more so than ever, it's tough to stay positive. Publishers are publishing less, publicity budgets are shrinking and audience/reader attention spans have reduced to that of a few minutes in many cases. More and more stuff tries to get our attention on a daily basis from the Internet, TV and even radio still fits into the mix. Sometimes it's easy to feel that our book will never be found, or if we're earlier in the game, that there isn't much point writing it because no one will get around to reading it anyway. If you've felt or feel that way, don't worry you aren't alone.

Also, don't get too worried overall, there's still good news too. There are still people who get excited about books and meeting authors. I met one via email today. She's a teacher at a local school and I emailed to ask if her school does meet the author kinds of events, if she could point me in the right direction for contacts etc.

Before she answered my questions, she let me know how great she thought it was that I'd written a book. When she did answer, her excitement jumped off the page. There aren't many times in email when you want to see all CAPS, but when someone is saying she really hopes you can visit her class, a sentence of all caps is most welcome.

It just took one email to make my day brighter and to remind me why I go through all the rest of the stuff in writing & publishing. Just one. It may be a while until I get another like that, or it could happen tomorrow but it's wonderful to know there are still people out there who want to write them.

How about you? Have you gotten an email or message like this? Have you sent that note that was "just one" for someone else? Could you?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Do You Carry Books With You?

2009-10-20T17:45:00.002-04:00

Today's book marketing concept is very simple. Do you carry books in your vehicle? I'm guessing at least some of you are able to answer "yes" to that one. Cool! Now how about your spouses vehicle or in any other vehicle you ride in regularly (i.e. maybe you go to lunch with your mom/dad on a regular basis in his or her car).

If you take public transportation, could you fit a copy into your backpack or briefcase? At the barest minimum, do you have information with you that has at least a description or cover art and website/point of purchase?

If not, why not?

One of very few reasons I can think of for why not to is if your book is for such a small niche market that you don't run into your readers during your "normal life" activities. Another possible reason might be if your topic is of a sensitive or particularly adult nature and those you run into regularly needn't know you have it. Fine.

Other than that, if you don't carry books, or at least information about them regularly, I ask you, how much do you really want to sell them?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Borrowing from What Already Works

2009-10-16T17:24:00.003-04:00

I was made aware of two promotional strategies recently and it popped into my head that they have two things in common: the methods have already been proven to work, people already respond. The groups using them just put a little twist on them to better suit their purposes. As they say, "there's nothing new under the sun", and in marketing that's often the case. There are so many successful strategies out there, re-inventing the wheel is really not necessary, especially not when you're first starting out unless that's an area you excel in.

The first one is called The Amazing Book Race and is obviously based on the CBS show, the Amazing Race (which my husband and I happen to enjoy). It was highlighted this week on Sarah Bolme's marketing blog. The show itself has won best reality Emmy for a few years now. The basic concept has proven itself to be popular, why not start there?

The second is called The Spirit of Christmas Catalog and was brought to my attention by Carolyn Howard Johnson (frugal book marketing guru :-) ) Depending on how old you are, you might remember getting department store catalogs before Christmas and pawing through, dog-earing the gifts you wanted. Or maybe like me, some of you used to do a lot of shopping by mail order catalogs. Before the Internet, I did a lot of that. Still get a few now but not as many. Again, a concept that is known to have worked in the past in paper; this one just has a 21st century digital spin. BTW, if you're an author, this one is open for your participation at the moment.

So if you're trying to figure out some new fancy schmancy way to market your books and coming up empty, it might be time to figure out what you know works, put your own style to it, and see what happens.

Have you done this? Let us know.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Major Christian Publishing House Announces POD (and my thoughts about that)

2009-10-13T19:14:00.004-04:00

One of the things I like about the whole social networking phenomenon is that there are opportunities to talk to people you would never likely meet any other way. Case in point, I follow Michael Hyatt CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing on Twitter, Facebook and I also subscribe to his blog. And while you may get the impression that this sounds obsessive, don't worry, he's amazingly open to interacting with those who wish to (as long as it's done professionally I'm sure).

Today, when he announced his company is teaming up with a major fee-based/POD company to provide those services under a new imprint, I saw it quickly and was able to pop over to see what was going on.
The vast majority of the comments so far are a combination of the angels singing allelujah and "way to go". Those of you who have been following me for any length of time are probably not surprised that I immediately checked out the site to compare it against those companies that are already out there that I've researched in the past. As with most things, good and bad with this new venture.

As far as good, the premise behind starting the POD is good hearted. Hyatt admits there just aren't enough slots at traditional publishers to accomodate everyone who wants to be published and that won't change anytime soon. This is their way of trying to do something about that, to be proactive and that's definitely good. It might not be quite the right answer, but it's movement in a positive direction.

Also in the positive column, unlike most PODs, they are offering a version of full service distribution (see more about distribution in my series on it a few weeks ago) along with the typical online distribution. And that's were the not so good starts. Westbow (the new company) has some of, if not the most expensive packages in that market. Part of that is said to be because of the association with Thomas Nelson and an implied trust factor you don't have if you pick another company just from Google. I'd say that's true unless the POD experience falls apart as it has with so many other firms.

A couple other current issues are that there's no royalty info, nor book price/cost to author info in any of the packages which makes no sense to me. Be upfront, there's no reason to hide it. Don't make people jump through hoops to get such a important info.

Going back to my earlier statement, cool thing about Michael is he really likes interacting, so I made the above comments on his blog where the announcement was made-and he answered within a hour or two. He also asked a rep from Author Solutions to do the same. If you scroll through the comments to about the last third or so (as of now), you'll see the conversation. Pretty much standard stuff from the POD rep which was disappointing. He trotted out the same tired example that's been used for quite a while now as far as a success story. If I didn't respect Michael so much, I probably wouldn't pay much more attention to this, but we'll see how it goes, if they can really be different in a good way.

Check out the whole deal here Would love to know what you think, if you make a comment over there.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Business Are You In?

2009-10-09T17:46:00.003-04:00

What business are you in? Well, considering this blog is aimed at writers and authors, your answer is probably going to include something in that realm. Your business is selling your writing, selling books. To an extent that's true, but because the world of publishing, authoring, and even how and what we read has changed quite a bit, it's probably not the full answer.

I've touched on this topic before, but today I came across a video by Seth Godin that puts it in a way I haven't seen before (or if I did see it, it didn't sink in). In case you don't know who Godin is, he's a well respected, world renowned expert on marketing, particularly in figuring out why people do what they do when it comes to buying along with other social trend type stuff.

The premise of the video is this: you're not necessarily in the book business, you're in the souvenir business. To put it another way, some people will buy your physical book because they want to own a part of the experience that is you or your style or your story. Just like you go to a concert, play or Disneyland, love the experience and then want something to buy to take a bit of it home with you. Your job as an author either on your own, or hopefully in tandem with your publisher, is to create that desire.

The video runs 35min but in my opinion it's worth at least one view, maybe even two. Here's the link.

When you're done, let me know what you thought okay?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The Art of a Cover

2009-10-04T16:41:00.005-04:00

Take a minute to pop over and see the design recently picked for Pastor Rick Warren's newest book about the Lord's Prayer. Don't read the accompanying article just yet please (go ahead, I'll wait...).

Now I've got three thoughts for you:

1. It is widely accepted that today readers take only a few seconds, like less than 10 to decide if they want to pick up or look further at a book based on its cover.

2. On first impression, what do you think of it? Did anything stand out? How about the "O" in the middle? In the article, the comment is made that by design, the "O" appears you could fall right through it. If you didn't notice before, now that you read that comment, look again. I definitely feel that and I find it intriguing how such a simple sparse design accomplishes it. So often designers/authors think the more stuff, the more info you can cram on the better. Sometimes maybe, but a good designer will not only think about the information to be conveyed, but also the tone and feel of the book. If the cover can communicate that from the get go to a potential reader, it's probably a winner.

3. The cover art design was chosen through a contest. Whether you suggest it to your publisher or do it yourself as an independent, or maybe even fee-based, holding a similar contest can help you in at least a couple of ways. First, you can get a wider variety of ideas or new resources. Sometimes the more heads on a project the better. Typically, if you work with a designer you'll only get 2 or 3 unless you pay for more. Next, you can use it to build pre-publishing buzz. I didn't happen to hear about the contest itself ahead of time, but with the ease of Twitter and Facebook, as you asked for entries, it would also alert potential readers to follow you and stay tuned.

Usually, the design for a cover is referred to as "cover art" and as you can see, the term "art" definitely applies.

How did you/will you choose your cover art?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Inspiration for Your Next Book Launch

2009-09-30T10:29:00.002-04:00

Some authors simply decide within themselves or with their family that their book is officially launched and ready. Some, either on their own or with their publisher's help, have some sort of book launch event. I've done both.

For my first book, Publishing Possibilities I basically decided it was available, posted an announcement, sent an email and that was that. For my new book, Creation Inspirations, I was blessed to be able to have a small book signing event after services at my church. What is done as a kick off depends a fair amount on your personality, the type of book and, of course, your budget.

When I do my next launch, I'm considering something along the lines of what Mitch Albom is doing, but on a smaller scale because I'm no where near as connected as he is. In an interview on Good Morning America this morning he basically said authors sometimes have parties, why not do something to benefit charity at the same time. You can read more about it on his blog I think it's a great idea, wish I could go, but speaking of budgets it's not happening this time around. I wish him all the best though and appreciate the inspiration.

Have you held a similar style book launch? If you could do anything for your launch what would it be? I hope you'll share so we can all be even more inspired today.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What If? Distribution Part 7

2009-09-25T16:27:00.003-04:00

Last time we talked about some of the costs of full service distribution which you'll recall is one of the ways to get books into bookstores. I also shared with you that at this time, getting into a full service program isn't right for me and my book. Down the line though who knows?

Maybe that's not the case for you. Maybe after going through this series so far, getting your books into stores seems like a logical, doable option. What if you're ready financially to get your book into bookstores, or you want a traditional publisher and you want to work toward getting in even the bigger chains? What then?

As I've mentioned before, it's not get it on the shelf and they will come buy it. While it's true, a few people will come in, browse and buy, that strategy won't sell a ton of books. It may not even sell enough to require a re-order or to prevent returns.

So what do you do? Bottom line, you have to have a plan-a marketing plan to be specific. In fact, to submit to be carried by some distributors or store chains, you need to tell them what your plan is as part of the application/submission process. You read that right, you have to tell them before they'll even agree to stock your product, you aren't going to count on them to promote once it's there.

My suggestion-don't even think about pursuing a distributor, or even a traditional publisher, unless you have a good promotion plan because again, distributors get your book into stores, publicity and marketing gets it into the consumer's hands. It is often said, writing is an art, publishing is a business and it could not be more the case in the area of distribution.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Does it Cost? Distribution Part 6

2009-09-23T16:41:00.003-04:00

Throughout this series on distribution we've talked about what it is and many of the tasks a distribution program or company can help you with as an author. Some of you may have felt that all sounds good, how do I get started? Before you jump in, there's definitely another piece of the puzzle that needs to be considered and that is of course, cost. The companies who perform these services certainly don't do it for free and they are in business to make money just like any business.

I have personally researched a couple of full service companies in the last couple of months as I was curious to see if it would make sense to try it for my new book or not. Right now the answer is "not". Though it might be beneficial to be in stores this time, the cost is prohibitive at the moment for full service. Even though the two companies vary in their fee structure, the end profit works out to be similar. Here's how one works:

Set up fee $495 (they actually both have this and why it's so high, I'm really not sure)
Wholesale discount 55%
Distributor fee 30%
Warehousing $.03 per book per month

So here's what it would look like for my $12.99 book if a store buys it to stock it

$12.99 - 55% discount so I get 45% put in my account = $5.84
From that they invoice me their fee of 30% = $1.75
I also need to subtract my print cost which is between $2 and $3 depending on how many I've printed but to be cost effective 500 is probably the minimum.

So that leaves me with around $1 give or take per book, again depending on printing costs.

As you can see, this is where larger publishers (or smaller ones with huge budgets) have an advantage. They can get the print costs down further generally and if they handle distribution in house, the costs probably vary from the 30%. However, they may also have more overhead so overall, I'm not sure they really make much more (which partially explains the dire straights some are in right now).

You can probably also see why authors who go the traditional route only get 6, 7 maybe 8% in royalties. and remember, there's often an agent taking 10-15% out somewhere in the mix too.

If you're like me, one of the first things people ask is are your books going to be in such and such bookstore. Right now, my answer is people will be able to special order most of the time but they won't be stocked. Down the line, who knows. BTW, the website for the new book in case you are curious is www.creationinspirations.com

Have you considered full service distribution, have you used it? Please share your thoughts.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Who Are they? Distribution Part 5

2009-09-17T19:22:00.002-04:00

In previous posts in this series, we defined full service distribution and digital or online distribution. It's definitely important to be clear on the differences so that you can either pursue the appropriate company, or understand what's being offered in a particular package. Today, let's talk about what types of companies handle/provide full service distribution.

First, if you go the traditional route and are blessed to be picked up by a major publisher, it is likely they'll handle all, or at least some, distribution. Because they offer so many books, they have enough for an in-house staff to offer bookstore/retail store buyers throughout the selling seasons.

Next, there are specific book distribution companies. Many of these companies only work with publishers with multiple titles and the budgets to print hundreds or thousands of books at a time. Ingram is one of them. Their full service program requires a publisher to have 10 titles before they can be considered (as we talked about last time though, they also offer a digital program for those with fewer titles).

If you are traditionally published, you don't have to worry about this part of the process. It's all very much behind the scenes and most consumers wouldn't have a clue as to the distributor, nor do they need to.

Acquiring distribution is tricky for independent publishers often because of the requirements noted above. It is possible though as there are still a few companies who offer it, even if you only have one book. Atlas Books and Blu-Sky are two of them.

For the last group, those published by fee-based/POD publishers, full-service distribution is rare, if not non-existent.

Questions, comments?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Would You Be Interested?

2009-09-15T13:26:00.006-04:00

Buzz. Word of mouth. Publicity. We all want those things for our book. We want it to get noticed. And if any of that can go viral, we'll definitely be doing the happy dance. But how do all of those things get going? One thing is for sure, it's not "write it and they will come". It will take some effort on your part as we talked about last time.

The good news though is that effort doesn't necessarily need to be herculean nor does it need to cost a fortune. One such strategy is simple, but often at least partially overlooked-simply asking for people to lend a hand.

Even though I've asked for help in a variety of ways throughout both my book projects, I'll admit I didn't really think of doing what Mary DeMuth did recently (Scroll down to 9/1/09 and 9/7/09.

Mary is a respected author published by a major publisher (Zondervan) with an established audience. Even so, she didn't take for granted her fans would help spread the word about her new book. She flat out asked them to help get the word of mouth going. As you'll see in the 9/1 post, she kept it short and to the point and then later added a few other options. Nothing complicated, just "would you be interested?"

I'll also admit that the strategy caught me off guard at first. As I mentioned, she's got a good following, and she has at least some help from her publisher's publicity department as well. I just didn't think of someone like her asking for help with promoting, but it does make sense if you think about it just a bit. No one likes to be taken for granted, even loyal fans. Also, giving people direction makes it easier for them to participate, they don't have to wonder how they can help you if they desire to, and many are waiting to be asked.

How many responded to Mary's requests? I don't know. How many will respond to yours? I haven't a clue though I'm pretty certain you'll get some yes's and some no's and a few will ignore you. But even if it's only one or two in the yes column, it's more than you had if you didn't try to ask at all.

Have you asked for help promoting your book and received an unexpected yes or more than you asked for? Please share with us.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

P.S. More on distribution coming soon!

You'll Have to Market Your Book

2009-09-09T19:25:00.003-04:00

It can't be stated more simply than that. If you want your book to sell, you'll have to participate in the marketing process. There's no way around it, you cannot rely 100% on anyone else. And yes, this is true even if you are traditionally published though there are some who would like you to believe otherwise. If someone says you get to sit back and write, you either have a very unusual situation being taken into consideration or they're lying. The industry just doesn't work that way anymore. It can't afford to.

What is true is that the degree to which you need to participate can vary if you have a traditional publisher. They will (or at least should) have contacts and relationships with the media to an extent, and some may help with an overall plan so you may not have to reinvent the wheel.

But if you're a new author (which most of you reading this are), don't expect to get the bulk of their PR people's attention, especially if it's a bigger house and they carry big name/well established authors too. There simply aren't enough hours in the day or enough money to go around to treat everyone and every book the same. Want to tip the scales in your favor? Be prepared to be the best team player you can be.

Want more proof that you've got to pitch in? Agent Chip MacGregor says it as it is at his blog this week too.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Distribution Part 4 - How Do Wholesalers Fit In?

2009-09-03T17:16:00.006-04:00

If you delve into the topic of distribution, you'll most likely come across the term wholesaler (or sometimes wholesale distribution). Wholesalers are an important piece of puzzle, so let's jump into this topic today.

The main difference between distributors and wholesalers that you need to grasp is that wholesalers do not have reps that contact buyers (stores and libraries); marketing is not their function and most do little beyond having information about titles and maybe telling buyers what's new. They are not in the business of getting stores to place orders-they fill the orders. They serve as a supply point (think "w" wholesale & warehouse). They stock physical copies of books for hundreds if not thousands of publishers. In the case of print on demand, they may just have the title in a database and can get the book from the print source whenever there's an order.

In the U.S., the two major wholesalers are Ingram and Baker & Taylor. While they both serve many outlets, each has a focus. Retailers, including independent bookstores, generally turn to Ingram and B & T serves the library system.

Can your book be in the database or warehouse of a wholesaler if you are not working with a a full-service distributor? Yes. If you print or publish with certain vendors, your package may include a listing. In addition, you can apply to be a book supplier via an application on the B & T website. I don't know exactly how stringent the requirements are, but I am aware that independent publishers with as few as one book can appear in their system.

A couple of other items to note:
1.Ingram also offers full service distribution (and you must have at least 10 books to qualify), it is not the same program as what we're talking about today.

2. Wholesale orders and companies are part of the general concept of distribution which is getting books to the seller or end user. B & T refers to themselves as distributors on their website, however, they also state that they do not provide "distribution services" to their suppliers.

Again, to keep things straight on the most basic level, distributors try to get bookstores and other outlets to order books from publishers and wholesalers fill those orders.

To get a real world glimpse of what the process looks like check out Amber Polo's blog. It talks about author's expectations and interactions with independent bookstores and discusses some of the ordering process. Be sure to read the comments as well for more info.

More on distribution soon.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Distribution Part 3

2009-09-01T19:23:00.003-04:00

In parts 1 & 2 I talked about the basic definition of distribution and about full-service distribution which generally involves sales reps and other strategies to get store buyers to place orders. This time let's touch on the other kind of distribution known as digital or online distribution.

First, the big difference is evident in the name itself-digital distribution. It means your books are not typically stocked physically in stores, but they are available virtually-in a database along with tens of thousands of others.

Generally, digital distribution programs make your book available for special order in brick-n-mortar stores, appear on most, if not all, major online sites (like Amazon, B & N) and in the main database libraries use for acquiring books.The goal of distribution is to get books to customers, and online programs do satisfy that need, it just isn't in the traditional sense of how it has worked in the past.

Still to come: what kinds of companies provide distribution, pros & cons.

Questions, comments?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett.

Distribution Part 2

2009-08-27T16:16:00.002-04:00

In the first installment of this series, we talked about a basic definition of what full service distributors do:they get books to the stores and other outlets that then sell them to the public. Today, let's talk a little about how they do this.

Distributors make life easier in many ways for publishers because they handle at least some, if not all of these kinds of tasks: creating and then taking and fulfilling stock orders from stores, creating marketing materials, representing books at trade shows, processing returns from stores.

In addition, some provide fulfillment for orders directly from the publisher's website or even via phone number they provide. The distributor receives books shipped from the printer, stores them and then packs each individual order as it comes in. If the distributor has collected the funds from a customer as well, they then pay the publisher their portion on a set schedule.

As far as the customer is concerned, all of this happens seamlessly behind the scenes and that's the idea. Once in a while you might here the phrase "distributed by such and such company", but if you're like me, it makes absolutely no difference as long as your purchase experience is good/you get what you want.

One other thing that you should note is that occasionally, the terms distribution and fulfillment are used somewhat interchangeably. Generally though, fulfillment means filling and shipping orders, it doesn't usually involve marketing activities.

Who are the distributors, what does it cost to use their services? More next week.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Distribution- Part 1

2009-08-25T17:08:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, I did a short series on Lulu and the pros and cons of using it. Today, I'm going to start a new series about the topic of distribution. If you have any questions anywhere along the way, please feel free to either email me or put a note in the comment section.

Let's start with the most logical point-what is distribution?

First, let's talk about what is referred to as full-service or traditional distribution.
Consider this: there are thousands of publishers trying to sell thousands of books to the stores that sell them. Imagine the insanity if every store was contacted by every publisher about every book, old and new alike. The paperwork it would entail to fill the shelves would be absolutely insane. That's where the full service distribution comes into the picture.

Distributors catalog the inventory of multiple publishers, their representatives present the information to the bookstore buyers and the buyers place one order through the distributor. The distributor then facilitates getting the books to the stores either via their own warehouse or a wholesale warehouse. Stores may deal with more than one distributor for different lines of products because no one represents everything, but they are still dealing with far fewer entities than the first scenario.

If you walk into a B & N or other major store, the books you see got there via that process for the most part. This process is also generally what's in play when books sell in the thousands or tens of thousands+ copy level. It's definitely possible to sell decent quantities without distribution, but it is certainly a lot more challenging.

Do you want or need full service distribution for your book? Maybe, maybe not. Stay tuned.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Trying to Figure Out How to Get Attention for Your Book? You're Not Alone

2009-08-22T11:26:00.005-04:00

Sometimes, we writers like to dream ourselves into the land of bestsellers. We think about what it might be like to be on the big lists, how we'd be set for our next book and the next one after that. All we'd have to do is write, our publisher would release the book and all is well until the next one is ready-lather, rinse, repeat.

In some ways, it kinda makes sense. If your writing continues along the same path as the first big book, those who bought the first, would likely flock to future books too. Launch it and they will come kind of thing, right? Well, not exactly.

There's a competitive dynamic that occurs even at the bestseller level, that I hadn't thought about until I read this about Dan Brown's upcoming book and what it means to other big name books.

In a nutshell, even the big players worry about whether their book will get attention. That's how much publishing has changed over the years. Readers have so much to choose from, even well-known names are not exempt from a little hand-wringing and stressing out at the point of a book's release. There are no guarantees at any stage of the game.

What does all this mean to you? Be prepared.
Even if you have an agent, or are picked up by a large publisher, be prepared for plans to change and that you may not totally understand why or believe the changes to be fair. Also, understand you may not get all the attention you think your work deserves. Be willing to grow.

If you aren't going the traditional route, be prepared to compete. You may or may not directly be competing with Dan Brown or others in that realm, but you may be indirectly. Be aware of the possibility and prepare as much as you can so that you aren't blindsided if it happens.

And if any of the above does happen, be prepared to be knocked back a bit, or maybe even knocked down. Most importantly, be prepared to get back up and to take more steps forward no matter how big or small.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Do You Write Read-Aloud Books? Take Note

2009-08-18T17:01:00.003-04:00

I was alerted to today's tidbit courtesy of fellow author Barb Techel (BTW, if you like daschunds, you'll want to check out her mission in life www.joyfulpaws.com)

The info she passed along via Facebook is about a new type of e-book reader program called Ripple that's geared for kids. Here's how it works in a nutshell: authors can make their read-aloud books available through the service, an adult purchases the ebook version, and then record themselves reading it via their own computer speaker. They then tell the child their book is ready for them, the child logs on and can hear the story being read to them by the person who purchased the book. The grownup involved might be a grandparent living in another city or potentially a parent working or serving outside the country.

There's a short video clip that describes it in a little more detail .

I agree with the gentleman who posted the video, even if it's not quite here yet, it's something to keep an eye on. In the meantime, if you sell this kind of book, why not recommend/suggest what is available now to potential buyers? Using Skype to read a book live via the net or recording even a short video and emailing a link or uploading it is easier and easier to do, but not everyone will think of doing it, even if they're aware of the technology. Have them try it out with your book!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Publishing Terms Glossary

2009-08-14T11:14:00.004-04:00

Short and sweet today. There's a lot of unique terminology to know in any industry and publishing is no different. It is also more important than ever to at least understand the basics because these days, an uniformed author can easily be a scammed, frustrated or disappointed author in no time.

To help you out, Agent Nathan Bransford has posted a great list of some of the stuff you need to know. Find it here Still have questions? Post them here and I'll do my best to clarify or find someone who can.
Enjoy your weekend!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Attention Please?

2009-08-12T17:44:00.004-04:00

If you write a book (or create any kind of product for that matter) and you intend to sell it, you want attention. You want to do radio, have your picture on the front page of the paper. You want to be on TV-maybe even one of the top morning shows or even, (deep breath) Oprah.

Do you want all that or at least parts of it? Really? If you answer is still a resounding "yes", the next question is, are you ready if it happens?

Consider what happened in the last week to the Taviano family thanks to their 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks adventure. First, yes they really did that. Based from their home in Ohio, they put thousands of miles on their van, stayed with people they'd never met before except online and got as far as LA, CA.

When they did their last official stop at their hometown zoo in Columbus, they'd sent a media announcement to local TV and newspapers. TV showed up for the wrap up party on August 1. The segments aired the next day, hit the papers a day or two later.

From there the Associated Press picked up the story. By Mon/Tue there were hundreds of results if you Googled the story. Their story was picked up then bumped for something else several times. Then mom Marla was booked on a nationally syndicated radio show by Wed, then the whole family was flown in on Friday to NYC be on the CBS Early Show on Saturday.

Is your head spinning yet?

Of course they had wanted and sought out publicity. But the thing about publicity is you can't totally control it like you can with advertising. You rarely know exactly who's going to grab on to you or your message and when. A week later, things are calmer, another radio show is scheduled last I read.

You want attention for your book, but are you really ready to handle it if it comes faster or bigger than expected? Are you comfortable giving a radio interview, to be interviewed on camera even if it's your local channel?

The Tavianos were relatively prepared for the attention they got; it's hard to be prepared for everything especially early on. But CBS was "out of their comfort zone" as Marla put it to her friends, family & fans as she asked for our prayers and support. And that's another key, as you prepare do the best you can, and also put together a support system. In this time of the www, there's no reason to even think about going it alone.

So once again, if you are blessed to get the attention you seek, are you ready? If not, what are you going to do about it starting right now?

BTW, if you want to read about cool zoos, and what God is doing through the Taviano family, visit www.52zoos.com or www.marlataviano.com You can also keep an eye out for the upcoming book.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Else Do They Want?

2009-08-10T20:03:00.004-04:00

In the last post, we talked about the fact that very often it will be the case that your readers/customers don't need your book and one key to being able to still sell it is to get people to want it.

While you're working on how to do that, another idea to consider is-what else might they want?
If someone buys your book, there's a possibility they'd like something else too that's either directly related or associated with it. Now you probably wouldn't do this if you only sell on Amazon, but if you sell in person at all, it is definitely a strategy to consider to put a few more dollars in your pocket in a very overcrowded book market.

Examples of directly related:
Is there a concept or catch phrase in your book that would work well on a t-shirt, coffee mug or mouse pad? How about your book cover? Does a character wear a unique piece of jewelry that could be custom made for you to sell by a local jeweler or artist?

Examples of associated:
Is your book set in wine country or is a character a wine-lover or a foodie? Could you package your book with wine glasses, a wine scented candle or a cookbook?

Kids books are sold together with other products quite frequently, there's no reason adult books can't be too. Of course you don't have to make or write the things to go with it, but it shouldn't be to tough to find a way to make an attractive package deal.

Have you packaged your book with another product of your own creation or with someone else's? Please share with us!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Most People Don't Need Your Book

2009-08-05T16:27:00.003-04:00

Did that title statement catch you off guard? It did when I read the same sentiment in an article recently. But it didn't take long for me to understand how true it was.

It might not be the most pleasant exercise, but consider points like this for a moment:
1. If your book is non-fiction, there is a huge chance that all or part of your information is online and it's free. That's a big struggle the whole publishing industry is grappling with right now.

2. People are reading fewer books generally, but there were hundreds of thousands of new books published last year alone. And remember, that's on top of classics and other perennial best sellers.

3. If you are a reader, you may already have a backlog of books on your shelves along with a wish list, and your friends keep recommending more.

4. Decades ago, books were a major form of escape, entertainment and relaxation. Now there are numerous choices to fill free time.

How do you write and sell books if most people don't need them? You have to make them want to buy them. Want is different than need. You need to eat, but you might want chocolate instead of a salad. You need clothes, but you may want a particular brand over another that fills a similar need.

What's to want about a book? Maybe there's information in it they can't find easily for free. Maybe a writing style just hits the spot when they want something refreshing. Maybe it's because they met they met the author. Answer that question and you'll be well ahead of those who never stop to consider it.

So, why would people want your book?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The View from the Other Side

2009-08-04T10:07:00.003-04:00

You and I are writers and authors (or are at least we're working at it). We have lots of ways and lots of opportunity to communicate, commiserate and celebrate the world we work in. This is good because writing can be a lonely, frustrating and maddening enterprise sometimes.

But what about those who are essentially spectators to this world of words, editors and queries? I'd be willing to bet that most of us do not have a significant other or spouse who share our writing world. I don't. My husband is a musician (and a darn good one too :-)). Luckily for me he does understand and relate to "the arts", but not all areas of writing and music overlap by any means. Maybe some of you are in a similar boat, but others probably have family that aren't into such things at all, which makes what we do completely foreign and uninteresting.

No matter which is the case in any given family though, there is one common thread that exists-writers need support and encouragement. Yes, many of us can dig our heels in and push ahead without it, but life's much sweeter and less stressful when we believe others value what we do verses considering it a waste of time and effort.

Not sure how to make that happen? Or if your situation is going pretty well, can it be even better? Here's an excellent post with some simple ideas that can be used in either scenario. Getting things on track may be as simple as a quick forward to someone you love.

How are things in that place where writers & non-writers collide in your life? Do you have tips/stories about how the non-writers in your family support you? I'd love it if you'd share.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett