Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 30, 2017

John McPhee (author of Draft No. 4) on choosing an opening, or lead, to a piece of creative nonfiction: "All leads should be sound. They should never promise what does not follow. You read an exciting action lead about a car chase up a narrow street. Then the article turns out to be a financial analysis of debt structures. You've been had. The lead – like the title – should be a flashlight that shines down into the story. A lead is a promise. It promises that the piece of writing is going to be like this. If it is not going to be so, don't use the lead." Wall Street Journal, Sept 2, p C9

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 29, 2017

Can't get in to see a corporate buyer? Think like burglars. If they can't enter a house by the front door, they try to go through the garage, porch, rear door, other windows until they find a way in. Do the same with your prospective buying organizations. Keep trying until you find the right point of entry.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 28, 2017

It is not necessary to recreate new material in different formats. Re-purpose your content as an article, blog, podcast, etc for different segments

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 27, 2017

Find a searchable database of nearly 200 book review blogs at  http://bit.ly/2j7sxqn

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 26, 2017

Advice from a SEAL commander: "Hard times help you adapt--quickly. People who go through hard times should learn to appreciate them, recognizing that those times will not only strengthen them, but truly train them to properly and successfully lead their own teams when battling the competition." How can you apply this to your business?

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 25, 2017

When making a sales presentation, speak more persuasively with a low-pitched voice. This inspires confidence from those around you, according to a study from McMaster University in Canada. You don't have to fake it – relax before speaking by keeping your lips together and repeating mmm-hmm a few times, suggest Forbes body language expert Carol Kinsey Goman. Stress can constrict your vocal cords, making your voice come out higher than usual

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 24, 2017

What creative actions could you do to get free media publicity? Check Guinness Book of Records to find something that is remotely related to your business and design a new record you could create – the media will love you.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 23, 2017

Yo-Yo-Ma was by age 30 regarded as one of the world's finest classical cellists. He has since branched out, and in an interview in the Harvard Business Review he was asked,"How did you handle childhood fame?" He answered, "When I was a child, people said things to me I wish they hadn't. "You're such a genius." That's dangerous. The best approach is to have a healthy confidence but also the self-knowledge to ask, 'What do I and don't I do well?' so that you can be the architect of your own life."  

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 22, 2017

When we are very young writers our teachers might tell us a rule: Every paragraph must have five sentences. But as we grow as writers we come to understand that such rules have targeted, limited purposes and that often they are breakable. As mature writers, we select only those rules that help us achieve our purpose and ignore the rest

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 21, 2017

How long do you think it takes athletes to become proficient in their sports? How much longer to be great? Selling books takes time, too. More time than most think, especially to non-bookstore buyers. That is why many quit.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 20, 2017

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)  Use stories when making your sales presentations.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 19, 2017

When preparing your sales presentation, do not automatically convert a spreadsheet into a chart. That only visualizes data. It doesn't communicate your idea..

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 18, 2017

Be a student of time management. You will be the desired choice if you can produce more than your competition in a shorter amount of time. Anyone can learn a skill given enough time. The winners learn it faster and cheaper. APSS (www.bookapss.org)can help you learn about selling more books to non-bookstore buyers -- faster and cheaper.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 17, 2017

Selling books to corporate buyers is like exercising. Every January my gym gets crowded with people trying to follow their New Year's resolutions. By February most have given up. It's harder than they expected, and the results are not quick to come. Don't let that happen to your goals for your book. Large quantity special sales take time – sometimes years. Stick with it until you reach your objective.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 16, 2017

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)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 15, 2017

Are you in the right LinkedIn groups? You should be in 3 types of groups: 1) where your competitors/peers are 2) where your prospective buyers are, and 3) groups than enable you to stay up on industry knowledge/trends.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 14, 2017

You may hear a potential buyer say, "There is no money left in this year's budget. I'll get back to you in 1Q 2018."  If so, reply using the Feel/Felt/Found technique to reduce tension before you sell: "I understand how you feel, Ms. Prospect. Others have felt that way, too. But what they found is that when they used the fourth quarter to set up a promotional campaign, January sales increased well over the previous year. Here is how we can do that…"

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 11, 2017

"When I was six-years old, my grandfather told me, 'Whatever you do in life, make sure you're singing when you go over the mountain to work in the morning.' I still do." James Patterson (Wall Street Journal, June 16, pg M1)

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 10, 2017

Easy writer: William Strunk Jr. said, "Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words for the same reason that a machine should have no unnecessary parts."

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 9, 2017

"Short sentences convey pace, and are the rails of action writing; longer sentences feel more formal and deliberate, and are typically better suited for exposition."

      John Long

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 8, 2017

"Total sales at Barnes & Noble dropped 6.6% in the quarter ended July 29, compared to the same period a year ago. Sales in the quarter, the first of fiscal 2018, were $853.3 million, down from $913.9 million in the quarter ended July 30, 2016" (Publishers Weekly). The future of profitable book selling is in non-bookstore segments. Discover how APSS can help you at www.bookapss.org

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 7, 2017

Spend 60 minutes per day on marketing (social networking, blogging, radio show, telephone sales). How much better off would you be now with 365 more hours of marketing in the past 12 months?

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 6, 2017

John McPhee (author of Draft No. 4) on choosing an opening, or lead, to a piece of creative nonfiction: "All leads should be sound. They should never promise what does not follow. You read an exciting action lead about a car chase up a narrow street. Then the article turns out to be a financial analysis of debt structures. You've been had. The lead – like the title – should be a flashlight that shines down into the story. A lead is a promise. It promises that the piece of writing is going to be like this. If it is not going to be so, don't use the lead." Wall Street Journal, Sept 2, p C9

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 4, 2017

Radish is a new app for serialized fiction, designed for the mobile generation. https://www.radishfiction.com/ "On Radish you can write, share and monetize your bite-sized serial fiction stories, perfectly suited for reading on smartphones. Using a freemium model, writers on Radish can earn an income from their work – creating stories that will go on to become the source of the most popular blockbuster movies, TV drama hits and addictive games."

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 3, 2017

Are you stuck in your marketing activities? Maybe you should change the way you talk. "People get stuck simply because they're stuck telling a story about why they're stuck." Heather Harilesky, advice columnist

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 2, 2017

Increase your cash flow by becoming market oriented and mastering the art of listening to customers and prospects, understanding their needs, and developing products and services that meet those needs.

Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – September 1, 2017

Shakespeare coined thousands of new words (neologisms) in his plays and sonnets. Among these are: amaze, bedroom, excellent, fitful, majestic, radiance, and summit (from the book, "That's A Fact Jack!" by Harry Bright).