Publishing Success Blog

Book marketing tip: A cheap and easy way to schedule your Pinterest pins

2013-05-20T13:35:27Z

Pinterest is an amazing tool for authors but only if used regularly. Unfortunately, pinning can be a major time waster and may gobble up the precious minutes you should be ... writing!

One way to get around this is to schedule your pins a week at a time.

There are programs available that will allow you to schedule your pins. The bad news is that the ones I could find are all subscription based, starting at $10.00 a month and going up to $100 for noncommercial users. While that might be affordable for some, it may not be for authors on a limited budget.

The bottom line behind scheduling is planning. Remember the old adage: for every hour you spend in planning you save three in work time. If you take an hour a week to plan your pins, you can then pop in the pins every evening in just three minutes.

The best time for pinning is in the evening hours after 8:00 p.m. EST. So that’s your first tip. Plan your pinning time to fit into that period.

Here are the guerilla steps to becoming an amazing pinner!

1. Create a list of pins, keywords, and #hashwords to use with pins.

2. Make a list of the different kinds of pins that you want to pin.

3. Create a spreadsheet or simple Word document.

4. Find the pins (your own) or repins and copy the link for each one. Put in your spreadsheet. Fill in the keyword and description for each pin.

Schedule a time every day between 8 pm - 1 am and pin one to five pins during this time. If you have done all the work ahead of time—collecting pins, keywords and composing description—it will take you no more than three minutes to pin.

While this is not as fun as having a program that does it automatically for you it gets the job done. If you set up a system, you will get the same results as paying for a subscription-based program.

Remember, even with a subscription program you still have to put in the time to find pins, keywords, and write descriptions. So, though you don’t have the convenience of having them sent out automatically, by making the process easy you are more likely to pin on a daily basis and get the same results as a paid subscription.

To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.

Ever dream about being listed in Who’s Who?

2013-05-18T14:04:15Z

Why would an author want to be listed in Who’s Who?

Being listed in a Who’s Who directory designates you as an expert in some area. This can make the difference in getting booked for the media. Reporters often look at Who’s Who to get a jump-start when looking for experts to complete a story. A simple mention in a major periodical, TV, radio or on a popular internet site can boost your authority and book sales.

Trust and credibility are important for any kind of sale and especially for book sales. Whether your book is fiction or nonfiction, readers want to know that you know what you are talking about. While the average reader may not be scanning the Who’s Who column for their next reader, it’s a good bet that potential reporters and TV programmers are doing it on a daily basis.
How hard is it to get listed?

It’s actually much more attainable than you think. There are a number of different Who’s Who directories and there’s bound to be one that will be a good fit for you. Membership varies from directory to directory. Some memberships offer a free listing but are by invitation only. Others offer a fee for inclusion and they may or may not be legitimate. Check the source carefully.

The BIG Who’s Who in America is Marquis Who’s Who, started in 1899, which continues to be the standard for reliable and comprehensive biographical data. You can sign up to be considered for membership by going to their website and filling out some basic information.

If you’re not eligible (yet) for the the big Who’s Who, don’t despair. Being recognized in a smaller but important niches can also provide valuable credibility. Who’s Who in medicine, education, art, politics, law, finance, business, science, and engineering, are some of the areas covered. There are also regional directories.

To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.

How to create a multiple author event

2013-05-17T19:15:12Z

You can easily double your reach and results by combining an author event with another author. (This is the basis actually for the annual Book Expo in New York and multiple other book trade shows.)

But even if you don’t attend the big shows you can still create a bigger draw to your book-marketing event by teaming up with one or more authors.

Finding an author to team up with can be done through a number of different means. Here are four to consider.

Location - If your event is at a specific location you can search through Google, Facebook, or Twitter to find authors in the area of the event. Depending on what type of event it is, you can contact those that will be the most complementary to you. Get together to plan your presentation and how to divide time, energy, and costs.

Niche - If you write in one specific niche such as science fiction, social media, or parenting, you can look at groups in your area of expertise and make a connection with other writers. Look for blog authors, book authors, and speakers in the category, and start a conversation. Build the relationship over time. You don’t want to team up with someone you will regret by jumping in too fast.

Publisher Event - By attending events that your publisher sponsors or promotes you will often find author comrades you can connect with. Perhaps you can offer to volunteer for a panel presentation with another author or appear at a publicity event that is already set in place.

Volunteer Events - By stepping up and offering some of your time and energy to an event you may gain some valuable exposure and possibly gain a valuable contact or two in the process. Sometimes you can team up with an author or group of authors to divide the booth operating periods. This is a great way to share expenses and cut the time behind the booth.

At Wheatmark, our work with authors does not stop once their books are published. In fact that is just the beginning. That is why we place an emphasis on educating our authors about book marketing.

How to do book research using Google online forms to gather information

2013-05-17T13:27:13Z

“Content is king.” The statement has been used so much it’s become cliché. Nevertheless, it is still true and creating valuable content means you provide information not available anywhere else.

One way to do this is to do your own research. Collect data online by asking a group of people to provide responses to a question or a series of questions. The information that you collect is uniquely yours so it can be a big selling point for making your book stand out authoritatively.

Let’s say you’re a historical fiction writer and you want to find out what people’s responses are to visiting a particular historical site. You could create a form with a question and then share it with those people who have visited the site by asking on Twitter or Facebook. A better way would be to connect with the historical site and ask for permission to survey their visitors. If you share the results of the form with them and acknowledge the historical site in your book in a positive way, they may be glad to share the form with their list.

There are many ways to create a form on the web. You can write your own if you have coding skills but, for most of us, the easiest way is to use an online form service. Some are free and others charge a monthly or yearly subscription.

One of the best options is using Google Drive. Under Google Drive, you have an option for creating a form that you can send in an email or post on a website or Facebook page. You can view a short video tutorial [3:31] that will get you up and running quickly.

The information gathered from your form can provide statistical information to write a chapter in your book or an article or news release.

If you’re an author and feel stuck in your book marketing, get a jump start by learning about the best and latest book marketing strategies in the Authors Academy.

How to create your author fan club

2013-05-16T19:18:16Z

Behind every successful author there is a successful fan club.

This club may not consist of card-carrying membership with dues, name tags, and annual parties, but it must exist in some form or other. As an author, you need a faithful set of followers to ignite your book sales, show up at your events, and promote by word of mouth everything that comes off the press.

The easiest way to get started is to start collecting email addresses from your website, business cards from professional speaking events, and signup lists from book events.

Of course, all that is much easier said than done.

Today, asking for an email address from casual visitors with nothing but a suggestion is not going to happen. The days of collecting email addresses by simply putting up a sign-up sheet and encouraging folks to share their email address are long over. Most all of us are overwhelmed with too much email clamoring for our attention already. Our mailboxes overflow like a tsunami every morning with stuff we know we should read, would like to read but simply don’t have time to read every day.

To get an initial contact we must have a super, wonderful, amazing offer such as a free book or report. To keep your subscribers from hitting the unsubscribe button after the initial fervor wears off you must commit to providing valuable ongoing content or they will drop like flies once the initial offer lands in their email box.

So how do you get your author fan club to take off and hit the ceiling?

I know there are a lot of offers out there that promise you a massive list in a short time but, truthfully, I’m not so sure it happens for the average person. The only way I know that does work is to consistently provide something of value and to be as available and responsive to every subscriber as you can be.

It’s not easy but it pays off.

Consistent content can be done on Twitter with relevant tweets, on Pinterest with awesome pictures, and on blogs with helpful and informative articles.

You may be discouraged before you start and, I admit, it may look like there’s no end in sight.

The way to get out of that mindset is to make building content something that you actually enjoy doing.

If you have fun sharing great pictures, if you think sharing tips, resources, and information with others brings a smile to your face and someone else, then you will keep doing it. Make it fun. Do it for the few, and in time you will be doing it for many.

If you’re an author and feel stuck in your book marketing, get a jump start by learning about the best and latest book marketing strategies in the Authors Academy.

Should you autograph your books?

2013-05-16T19:17:36Z

I’m not sure what there is about an autographed book but I do know that it bridges a connection between the book owner and the book author that results in a greater awareness of each other.

Books that have been autographed rise above the heap from the millions of mass-produced books that go out into the bookselling stream with little or no personal touch from the writer. With an autographed book, however, one knows that at least for a few brief seconds the author actually touched the book you have in your hand.

Is that valuable? In many ways it is. Not only does it raise the purchase value if the author becomes famous, it also makes the book have a greater personal value.

Over and over again, you will hear that all book selling is about building relationships. This is why authors go on tours visiting bookstores and other book events. It’s why authors speak live before audiences as much as they can and go on radio and TV whenever the opportunity is available. Making connections is important.

With the onset of books being published and sold digitally, this personal touch isn’t available. At least, not yet. I’m sure there will be digital signature signing around the corner though I don’t know if it will have quite the impact of knowing that the author picked up the book, opened the cover and asked that connecting question, “Who shall I autograph it for?”

Seeking out ways to autograph your book is a valuable pursuit. It may be just the bit of edge that gets your book chosen over another.

While you can go to bookstores and offer to autograph a pile of books, it is extra special when you can actually sign the book for the reader. Obviously it takes a huge chunk of time, and while it may not pay off immediately in dollars and cents, it does make for happier readers who will stay with you longer.

If you’re looking to make progress in publishing a book, download our free report, The Author’s Guide to Choosing a Publishing Service.

13 tips to stay focused on your writing project

2013-05-16T18:32:38Z

Avoiding the “shiny-object syndrome” is hard for any writer, but particularly so for new writers. Not having a finished book in their arsenal, the reward is just a possible dream and keeping on task to get there is difficult.

Still, the only way to “git ‘er done” is to stay committed to writing. Every author must create their own set of rules to follow what works for them. The following are thirteen ideas you might adopt to help you get there. Pick a few that feel the most doable and actionable.

1. Pick a set time to write every day.

2. Set a word goal to reach each day.

3. Set a word goal for each week.

4. Create a writing space to help you enter into the “zone.”

5. Spend a minute affirming yourself before starting.

6. Find a power quote and recite it often throughout the day.

7. Get an accountability partner.

8. Reward yourself with work accomplished. Use mini and major goal rewards.

9. Create a punishment for not meeting goal. This works! Make it a bad one and be committed to following through if you don’t follow through.

10. Join a writer’s group.

11. Set a deadline for the completion of the book and tell at least one person about it.

12. Blog about your progress

13. Create a chart and reward yourself with a gold star each day you stay on track.

Finally, my last tip for staying focused is to make a list of the most probable interruptions that may happen and figure out ways to overcome them or work around them. For instance, if you commit to writing for an hour each day from six in the morning until seven, what will you do if you can’t do it? When will you make that hour up?

Getting your book done is totally up to you. Circumstances will always arise to block, tackle, and overcome your best intentions. Be determined to work through them and around them.

Once you’re done with the manuscript and your book is published, not only will you have a huge sense of accomplishment, you will experience greater confidence in your own knowledge and expertise.

3 writing blogs to follow for authors

2013-05-06T13:07:57Z

As an author you write to inspire, educate, or entertain others. Always having something valuable to share requires that you dip into other wells just to keep your own creativity at a higher level.

The following list of three writing blogs (taken from Write to Done’s Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2012) are suggested to get you started in your search. Depending on the type of writing you do, fiction, nonfiction, research, etc., these blogs will send you off finding your own writing gurus to check out whenever your inspiration for writing starts to dry up.

Jeff Goins - Jeff started blogging in 2010. In 2012, he was listed as the number one writing blogger to follow. His topics are based on how successful writers make a living, what it really takes to get published, and is it okay to pursue a passion. His writing is easy to read, compelling, and rich in content. You come away with something to think about, mull over, and implement every time.

Positive Writer - Brian Hutchinson began blogging six years ago in a very special niche: ADHD. Since then he has taken blogging and writing new heights. His topics are about writing in many different aspects: blogging, self-publishing, marketing, creativity, etc.

The Creative Penn Joanna Penn is a fiction author, blogger, podcaster, and coach. She self-published her first book in 2008, which she states was a miserable failure because she didn’t know about building an author platform. In five years that has changed dramatically. Her books have now sold over 55,000 self-published copies and she has just entered a traditional publishing contract. She charts her way to success and helps others to achieve the same results.

At Wheatmark, our work with authors does not stop once their books are published. In fact that is just the beginning. That is why we place an emphasis on educating our authors about book marketing.

5 basic tweets for building your author platform

2013-05-04T17:56:35Z

Building your author platform is a daily exercise every author must commit to for a book’s success.

If Twitter is part of your social media routine, coming up with interesting and relevant tweets can be a chore. One way to make this task easy is to create a tweet subject list.

To get started, decide how many tweets a day you will do. Three to five is usually a good number to start with. Leaving it up to whatever happens happens usually means that nothing will happen. So get yourself a piece of paper and let’s get started building your author tweeting program.

For this example, I am going to help you plan for five tweets a day. You can shorten it if you like to three or four.

When tweeting, a good practice is to offer tips, links, and interesting news items that will be of interest to your followers. Obviously, you want to promote your book, writing, and projects you are interested in, but make sure you have plenty of other tweets to balance them out. A good ratio I have often heard recommended is to offer one self-promotion tweet for every ten tweets.

Five possible tweets

1. Blog post update. This one is easy and can be done automatically every time you post. Every time you write a new blog post, let your followers know.

2. Inspirational quote. Keep it on topic about writing, books, book marketing or from an author. Create a list and add to it as you read books, news articles, etc. It’s okay to use a quote from places such as Inspirational Quotes or BrainyQuote, but you will have more impact if you can say you just read it or just found it somewhere.

3. Great image or picture. Great or fun pictures from around the web are okay, but including your own content from time to time will result in making a better connection. If you’re tweeting to build your author platform, keep your photos focused on something to do with your book most of the time.

4. A helpful resource. Share what matters to you. If something inspires you, there’s a good chance it will do the same for someone else as well.

5. Share a lighter moment. Something funny, a witty joke, or a comment you just heard.

If you’re an author and feel stuck in your book marketing, get a jump start by learning about the best and latest book marketing strategies in the Authors Academy.

Creating a successful author platform with social media

2013-05-03T13:21:57Z

What does an author need more than anything else to have a book be a bestseller?

Answer: Readers

No matter how good your writing is, you need that hungry crowd of avid fans for success.

With today’s social media, there are many choices to connect with these readers. Trying to do them all will put you in the loony bin. At the same time, you should keep trying different types of social media to find what works for you and for your book.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google Plus are five of the biggest ones to look at.

Making a decision on which one to focus on will depend upon your audience. Different age groups will gravitate toward different mediums.

If your target audience is over fifty, you may be better off not concentrating on social media. The baby boomer-plus crowd is still finding their news in print, radio, and TV. However, if your audience is into social media, you may want to experiment with each of the five types to see what brings in the greater return for your time, energy, and money.

Unfortunately, just experimenting lightly with them will probably not give you accurate feedback. Social media, like everything else, requires that you learn enough about it and give it enough time before making a decision that it won’t work for you. Often authors working on their platform will try bits and pieces of everything and quickly get frustrated. Getting results overnight, no matter how many author rags to riches stories you read, is not the norm.

I suggest you pick one of the five main social media networks and dig in as deeply as you can to take advantage of all there is to offer. Read a book or two, take a tutorial from Lynda.com or some other media training program. Social media does work but it takes work to make it work.

To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.

Is procrastination stopping you from writing a book?

2013-05-02T14:12:36Z

Is procrastination stopping you from writing a book?

The answer is no.

Fear is what’s stopping you from writing a book.

Fear disguised with a mask and a cap and a loaded gun aimed at your heart.

Fear that, although you want to write a book, you’re afraid you can’t do it, that no one will like it, that it won’t sell.

Fear that you’ll be laughed at for thinking you had the audacity in the first place to even think about writing a book.

Fear that it will take too much time.

Fear.

No matter how you look at it, almost all procrastination has fear at its root.

Look at all the time you waste each day on things that you want to do: They’re all things that have no fear wrapped around them. A chocolate chip cookie or a nice glass of wine to sip as you unwind from the day.

Somehow, without even trying, you do manage to sneak in a few minutes to read your email, watch a TV program, or a few chapters reading someone else’s book. You wake up and go through your morning routine day after day. Simple stuff with no anxiety at all.

It’s only when it comes to writing your book that you procrastinate.

You put it off day after day like some people avoid going to the doctor.

So how do you clobber the fear that’s stopping you from writing a book?

How do you jump off the dock into the crystal blue water of becoming a published author?

Face your fear. Look at it in the mirror. Laugh at it!

What’s the worst that could happen if you actually wrote a book? That it flops? Maybe it will. Can you handle a flop?

Haven’t you done many things that didn’t turn out as successfully as you hoped? Didn’t you survive anyway?

What about if it’s not a flop? What about if it’s a big, fat, smacking success?

Can you handle that?

Haven’t you handled successful things in the past?

Go for it. It’s your dream. No one will stop you but you.

At Wheatmark, we believe in helping authors with every step of the writing and publishing process. Whether your book is is in the beginning or final stages to tell us about your project, tell us about it.

How to build a Pinterest research board for your book

2013-05-01T13:01:02Z

Whether your book is fiction or nonfiction, you can use Pinterest to create a better book by creating research boards.

What is a “research board”?

Basically, it is a board or series of boards that have images that link to anything related to your book. Take a look at these amazing research boards created by Alexa Chipman who writes young adult fantasy and science fiction.

You can create a board that takes place in the area your book focuses on: a state, city, park, or building.

Create separate boards for different categories of your book, such as: book cover ideas, characters, food, clothes, time period, places, spaces, weather, history, events, and anything else that will get you into the creative mood for writing your book.

For instance, let’s say you’re writing a mystery story that takes place in Corvallis, Oregon. Create a new board called “Corvallis, Oregon.” Now you can pin images, articles, videos, anything, and everything that happens in Corvallis.

3 benefits of your research board

1. Use your board to write description passages. If you have pinned images of a restaurant, you can look at those to get into a visual sense of the place. Ask yourself questions as you look at the pictures. What is the weather like? What kind of clothes are people wearing? What’s the atmosphere like?

2. Measure interest in your board. Do you have any traffic to your board? Use a site like Pinpuff to measure the popularity of your board. Knowing if anyone is interested in your book location can be valuable information to marketing your book in that area.

3. Build your book platform while collecting information for your book. What attracts people to go to Corvallis? By targeting those areas, you can fill your board with pins that match interest. People who visit one of your boards will likely visit your other boards. Make sure that they know you are writing a book and that it will highlight areas of their greatest interests.

At Wheatmark, our work with authors does not stop once their books are published. In fact that is just the beginning. That is why we place an emphasis on educating our authors about book marketing.

7 easy ways to get book reviews

2013-04-30T13:51:51Z

One of the most powerful ways to sell anything is by customer testimonials. It’s the most effective selling tool for books as well. When others toot your horn, it will always be more powerful than your own efforts.

The challenge is, of course, getting others to do it!

Getting reviews isn’t hard but it does take time. The biggest hurdle to overcome the feeling that you’re bothering people. In many cases, they’ll be glad to help, especially if you have an established relationship with them. Asking complete strangers is a different matter altogether.

Here are seven easy tips that will give you an edge on getting good book reviews:

1. Always pick the lowest hanging fruit first. In this case, this means asking people that you know the best and will be the most willing to help. In many cases this may be a family member, friends, or work associates. Once you have a couple of book reviews, it will encourage others to follow suit.

2. Ask people you have regular online contact with: Twitter followers, Facebook friends, etc. Let them know what you are doing and why the reviews are so important for you. Put a personal touch in your request and they will be more likely to help.

3. Write an easy explanation of how to leave a book review on Amazon and share it with your email list. Often people want to help but find it too confusing to figure out how to do it. Make it as easy as possible and always provide a direct link to places like Amazon, Goodreads, etc.

4. Offer to give away a free download of your book for the first 10, 20, or 30 reviews and share again with your mailing list and contacts.

5. Contact bloggers in your niche and ask if they would be open to reviewing your book for a free copy. Explain that you will cross promote their review on your list and other social media contacts.

6. Send out a book review announcement to your local paper, magazines, and other venues in your area. If possible, find an event that you can connect your book with, such as offering a door prize or other giveaway at a charity or community event, to make the news more exciting.

7. Submit your book to established book reviewers in your niche. While the top reviewers such as The New York Times or Forbes may not take the bait, other, less-known periodicals and networks may give you space. Check out the requirements carefully before sending.

If you’re an author and feel stuck in your book marketing, get a jump start by learning about the best and latest book marketing strategies in the Authors Academy.

Six power affirmations for authors

2013-04-29T16:45:58Z

Feeling stuck?

Take a few minutes to switch gears in your brain by repeating one or more of these powerful affirmations for writers.

1. What I write today doesn’t have to be good but I do need to be good and write. Perfectionism is the biggest inhibitor for writers. It makes the blank page win every time. Slay that dragon by setting the timer and start writing.

2. I will write every day until my book is completed. The quote by Thomas Edison, “Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration,” is worth applying to your writing project.

3. Every minute that I spend writing is making me a better writer. Rome was not built in a day, but it was built. Concentrate on writing every day. Write and rewrite. You will get better.

4. Consistency in writing every day is more important than spasmodic writing marathons. As any accomplished musician will tell you, fifteen minutes of practice a day, every day, will improve your playing more than two hours of practice once a week. Slow and steady builds writing muscles and improves writing technique.

5. I will not let my negative feelings today affect my writing today. If you let your feelings dictate when and how much you write, you’re not in control. Your feelings are. Feelings are affected by outside circumstances such as lack of sleep, too much sugar, a negative comment, almost anything, and everything.

6. The reality is, if I continue to write, I am a writer. This is a play on the quote “The reality is, if you plant corn, corn will come up.” Think about this one. If you plant writing seeds every day, you will produce an abundant harvest.

April 23 is World Book Night USA

2013-04-22T16:33:29Z

Join the celebration!

World Book Night is an annual free give-away of popular books on April 23 to light and non-readers to encourage reading. Books are given away in schools, shopping malls, nursing homes, prisons and to the poor. They are handed out on the street, on buses, and in parks.

World Book Night started in 2011 in the United Kingdom as a grassroots movement to spread the love of reading to people who would not normally read a book. In just two years, it has spread across the United States and other countries with thousands of volunteers giving away thousands of books.

Last year over 2.5 million books were given away free throughout the US, the UK, Ireland, and Germany. 25,000 volunteers across America in 6,200 towns and cities will hand out books within their communities to those who are not normal readers.

Halloween is a trick or treat night. World book night is all about treats with absolutely no tricks allowed. Volunteers are selected according to their ability to give away 20 free books to non-readers on April 23. They must answer several questions and select a book title to give out. Each volunteer is given only one title to distribute.

30 books are selected by a panel of booksellers and librarians with input from volunteers. This year’s list features a wide variety of books for all ages.

It’s too late to volunteer to give away books this year but you can sign up for their newsletter and attend one of the 28 simultaneous World Book Night Kick-Off Events. One such event held in Nashville at Parnassus Books will feature Ann Patchett and James Patterson. Other events will feature authors such as Nora Roberts, Lisa Scottoline, Walter Mosley, and Hillary Jordan and others. All events are free and open to the public.