Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 30, 2016

Great comeback: Actress said, "I enjoyed reading your book. Who wrote it for you?" Author Ilka Chase said, "Darling, I'm so glad that you liked it. Who read it to you?"

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 29, 2016

"I learned that my job wasn't to tell people what to wear but to find out what they wanted and then to give it to them in an unexpected way." Kenneth Cole in Fortune, Sept 15, 2016

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 28, 2016

"If you stand on what you've accomplished, it gets in the way of what you still need to do. Stay focused on what's ahead." Fortune, Sept 15, 2016

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 27, 2016

Exercise your "risk" muscle. Practice doing something different every day. Go to a new restaurant and eat something different or weird. Take one dancing lesson and then a drawing lesson and then a kayaking lesson. Do something different every day and make it a habit.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 26, 2016

Top 10 Reasons Companies Implement Promotional Programs

 

 

1.      Acquire new customers

2.      Keep customers loyal

3.      Increase their "share of wallet"

4.      Generate goodwill

5.      Increase sales, revenues and profits

6.      Promote additional purchases

7.      Create a sense of momentum

8.      Personalize employee or customer recognition

9.      Create or relate to an ongoing theme

10.   Motivate or award employees

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 25, 2016

Want to write a bestseller? According to the Wall Street Journal (Sept 2, p D5) you should read The Bestseller Code, by Matthew L. Jockers and Jodie Archer. The authors designed an algorithm to "identify the DNA of bestselling novels," and here are some of their findings:

1.   A laboratory is a more compelling setting than a church

2.   Life in the classroom trumps partying on campus

3.   Readers largely prefer novels with dogs in them rather than cats

4.   Regular bestselling writers have a subject that is overwhelmingly important to their brand (think Grisham and Steele)

5.   Bestselling novels tend to have one or two topics which often feed off each other. Books that fail to hit often try to cram too many topics in

6.   The top-selling books have "human closeness," including everyday interaction between characters which can help vary dramatic pace and avoid melodrama

7.   The verb "need" is a much stronger indicator of success than the verb "want"

8.   The word "do" is twice as likely to appear in a best seller than in a book that has never hit the list

9.   Passive characters are "a big no-no" and readers want a character "to be" not "to seem"

10.  Geopolitical settings are arbitrary to success. People love to read about work and, contrary to conventional wisdom, sex does not generally sell.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 24, 2016

The value of your content (to the buyer) is a fluid concept because it is unique to each customer and changes over time. An example of recognizing and responding to this fluidity is Amazon Prime. In 2005 it was initially focused on reducing costs and saving time for its customers by providing unlimited two-day shipping for a fixed annual fee. Then Amazon expanded Prime to include streaming media (added value was access and entertainment) and unlimited photo storage on Amazon servers (to reduce risk). Each new element attracted more customers and increased the value to existing ones. How can you apply this concept to selling more of your books?

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 23, 2016

Want an idea for a corporate tie-in for selling your book? The Subaru Loves Learning initiative conducts the annual Science Books & Film Prizes for Excellence competition to recognize outstanding scientific information (fiction and non-fiction) for young audiences. They not only recognize the best science books for kids, they "distribute" books to schools around the nation. See www.subaru.com/partners for more information.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 22, 2016

Reminder about the APSS open mic every Thursday at Noon ET. I'll be online to answer questions about APSS and non-bookstore marketing. Join me today at https://zoom.us/j/3671572517

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 21, 2016

The word "intelligence" comes from the Latin inter ("between, among") plus legere ("choose, read"). To be intelligent is literally "to choose among." A little creativity gives you the alternatives from which to choose. For example, alternatives for selling a children's book could be children's libraries, PTAs, daycare centers, airport stores, supermarkets, government agencies, toy stores, and gift shops at museums or zoos.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 20, 2016

What engages your brain the most? Storytelling. A survey says that listening to story-podcasts activates emotions across the entire brain, upending the right/left brain theory. "Understanding a story requires access to all kinds of cognitive processes … including visual imagery and more." (Prevention magazine, Sep 2016)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 19, 2016

Use research results as a description of past behavior, a way to provide clues about how people might act in the future. Use research as a way to guide your creative marketing actions.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Weekend – September 17-18, 2016

Take a daily walk to clear your mind. Charles Dickens took three-hour walks every afternoon, and what he observed on them fed directly onto his writing. Ludwig von Beethoven took lengthy strolls after lunch, carrying pencil and paper with him in case inspiration struck. (Readers Digest, Sep 2016, p 42)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 15, 2016

How many mystery writers does it take to change a lightbulb? Two. One to screw it in half way and another to give it a surprise twist at the end.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 14, 2016

Do you need a private place to write? Take a tip from these authors. Jane Austen asked that a certain squeaky hinge never be oiled so that she always had a warning whenever someone was approaching the room where she wrote. William Faulkner, lacking a lock on his study door, detached the doorknob and brought it into the room with him. Mark Twain's family knew better than to breach his study door. They would blow a horn to draw him out. (Readers Digest, Sep 2016, p 42)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 13, 2016

What you see is often a function of how you look at something. For example, some publishers look at libraries as one homogeneous niche. But not all libraries are the same. There are public libraries, hospital libraries, school libraries, military libraries, prison libraries, children's libraries, corporate libraries, law libraries, religious libraries and more. They buy for different reasons, so you have to market to each differently. Look for the opportunity in every market. Things are not always as they seem at first glance.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 11, 2016

According to Book Business Magazine, Bowker (the US ISBN agency) reports a 21-percent increase in self-published ISBNs—not titles—from 2014 to 2015: another indication of quickly rising interest in indie publishing. Beat Barblan, Bowker's director of identifier services, clarifies that the company's newly released figures show that in 2015, 727,125 ISBNs were applied to self-published works. That figure includes print and digital books combined.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 10, 2016

Have a clear divide between important work and busy work. Do your writing in the morning and other busy work such as responding to emails in the afternoon. Or vice versa. Just allocate several hours for revenue-generating work, and other time (evenings or weekends) for the repetitive work that is less productive but needs to be done.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 9, 2016

The non-retail sales process is not about you or your book. Rather, it is about providing your customers and readers with valuable information. Learn how to sell what your content will do for your readers by looking at it from their perspectives. Once you change your marketing focus from "me" to "them," you will go a long way to increasing your sales, revenue, and profits.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 8, 2016

Your "Growth Gap" is the distance between where you are now and where you want to be. What is your "Growth Gap" and how will you close it this year?

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 7, 2016

Personal networking is important. In Reader's Digest Bill Nye says, "Everybody you ever meet knows something you don't." Similarly, you know something everybody else does not know. Network face to face and trade your secrets.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 6, 2016

The word "deadline" originated in Civil War prisons, where lines were drawn that prisoners passed only at the risk of being shot. When you are given a deadline by the media, take it seriously. If you miss one and call the editor back, that is what you will get – a dead line.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 5, 2016

On March 15 1985, Symbolic.com became the first registered Internet domain. Science-fiction writer William Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" in his novel Neuromancer only the year before.  ("That's A Fact Jack!" by Harry Bright)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 4, 2016

According to Abraham Flexner, "the really great discoveries have been made by men and women who were driven not by the desire to be useful, but to satisfy their curiosity." To cultivate such curiosity, you should think of yourself as apprenticing to the craft of thought. As the intellectual historian Mary Carruthers puts it: "People do not 'have' ideas, they 'make' them." (Scott Newstock, Wall Street Journal, Sep 1, p A9)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 3, 2016

Nancy Fox is a networking expert and will be conducting a webinar for APSS on that subject on December 20. As a bonus for APSS members, she invites you to attend her free webinar on the topic of Self-Confidence. So many people can't apply tools and processes because their belief in self is depleted. It will be held on Tuesday, Sept 6 at 1:00 pm ET; register at http://tinyurl.com/jkrogje  Attendees also get a free follow up book: 12 Commandments of Building Unshakeable Self Confidence.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 2, 2016

When Shakespeare was born, there wasn't yet a professional theater in London. His education had prepared him for a job that didn't even exist. "You should be encouraged to learn that this has been true for every generation: four of today's largest companies did not exist 40 years ago. One of them, Apple, was cofounded by someone who said that the most important topic he ever studied was not engineering, but calligraphy. The best way for you to prepare for the unforeseen future is to learn how to think intensively and imaginatively." (Scott Newstock in Wall Street Journal, Sep 1, p A9)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 1, 2016

Did you notice that the word playwright is not spelled w-r-i-t-e, but w-r-i-g-h-t? A playwright is a maker, like a wheelwright who crafts wheels. A playwright crafts plays.