5 Tips For Promoting Your Book(s) #3

Hi again!

1) Get a website. That sounds daunting doesn't it? Some publishers provide a website for their authors. There are people who design them. There are other companies that have website options for a monthly fee. I get mine through vistaprint.com. You can get them for any price point, but I get the delux site because I want to be able to sell my stuff on my own site, elainelittau.com . I have a paypal shopping cart on there and it is great.

2) So...you have a website. So what? You have to answer a few questions about why you have it. One fact of our day and time is that if you have a business, and your book is your business, you MUST have a website. Questions to consider:

a)Who am I selling to? You will want to say 'everybody'. That just isn't true. While many people from each demographic will read your book, you do have a dominate reader profile.

b) Once you figure out who your major buys are you need to decide if they are people who have a lot of technical/computer experience or are they people who love getting mail-outs and paper advertisements. Whether your customer is technically challenged or not, you need a simple to navigate site.

3) The FIRST page of your website needs to tell them, in plain language , what it is you want them to do. An arrow---BUY HERE pointing to the books and things you offer. A sentence in bold type AUTHOR, SPEAKER, BOOK MARKETING COACH...or POET, SPEAKER, WRITER...Make sure your customer knows your purpose on the first page.

4) Your other pages can have your bio and book details and other things you offer, as well as guestbook, book trailers, and all the bells and whistles.

5) Be sure you use good KEY WORDS in describing your website if there is that option. You will want your website to be found easily by search engines. (frugal book marketing, author, speaker, writer, fiction, historical fiction, western fiction, christian western fiction, book marketing coach....)

Until next time, why don't you work on these 5 things?

Your Book's Not Selling!

Are you discouraged with your book sales? Have you been working extra hard to get the word out about what you've written ... yet it doesn't seem like there's much response? TAKE HEART! Be encouraged! Keep on keepin' on! Here's a story that relates:

I took an Executive Secretarial course in college. When I graduated ... guess what I thought I was going to be? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out ... but guess what else? It didn't happen! I had to work my way up through the ranks, until eventually I got to the management level.

The same thing happened when I wrote my first book. I never had any thoughts at all about becoming a writer or an author. It happened by the grace of God (literally), through my studies to become a licensed belief therapist. Since I knew God was behind the writing of my first book, it followed in my mind that He would touch the hearts and minds of those He wanted to get the word to that He had planted in my heart.  Thus ... the sales would be there! But they weren't. (You'd have thought I would have learned my lesson with the Exec. Secretary job ... but nooooo!)  I literally spent almost all of my waking hours at my computer, marketing my book on line. So much so that God eventually had to say to me: "What's more important ... what you're doing or WHO you're doing it for!" (Notice that there's not a question mark at the end of the sentence. There's not an answer to be given. God was trying to tell me that even though I was working for Him, I was missing out on the most important aspect of life ... relationship with Him.)

I believe that at the time, I had the best marketing agent at Tate Publishing. Yet I'm now into writing my 5th book (as well as having written a behavioral management program for troubled teens, and that one's not published yet) and the sales still aren't there to any huge degree. Tate Publishing is really into recognizing and finding your "niche," which for the most part, at least up to this point, I thought I had. Marketing is definitely not my "niche." (My father was a salesman, and my son was in retail for a long time. But the gift bypassed me!) Yet I'm still marketing on line, as well as traveling to different trade shows, book festivals and book signing events. But still ... few sales.

Being an author is a very difficult field to be in. With a million new books published every year, there are a lot of us out there with something to say. Yet, I'm still working at it ... I have a book that was released  earlier this year (Here...Have A Miracle), and I have another in the production process as we speak. (Walking Toward the Light) And I'm into writing my next book after that. (My 3rd, 4th & 5th endeavors.)

I CAN'T STOP! Why? Because I believe that God is behind it. He's the One who gave me the talent, the words to say, and the ability and equipment to get the job done! He's the one who gave me the message. Sooooooo ... what's happening is that I'm "planting the seeds" and leaving the results up to God. (Check out I Corinthians 3: 6) It's the only way I can keep on doing what I'm doing. Depend on Him for the results.

I hope you will be encouraged with what I've said here. Let it soak in to your own writing career. One other thing that has helped me, is being in touch with other Tate authors. Following their tips, watching their events to see if there's one I might be able to join, and reading their encouraging posts.  I do wonder about the sales from time to time. But I'm going to keep on keeping on ... and I hope you will too!

#6-#10 Tips for Marketing Books

Thanks again Jane, for letting me guest blog again.

#6- Write a great book. If it is good, people talk. If people talk, the books sell.

#7- Write articles for online and hard-copy magazines. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to do this.

#8 - Write a short-story and put it on your website as a free down-load.

#9 - Write "between the books" chapters for your readers to enjoy while they are waiting on the next book. It keeps the characters fresh in their mind. Offer the chapters on your website. Write one short chapter a week or month.

#10 - Have contests on facebook. Give away a free book for those who post on your profile. You can ask a question to which there is no "correct" answer. The point is to have people interested in your book. It helps to show that you care about your readers.

5 Tips For Promoting Your Book(s)

I appreciate the opportunity to guest blog for author, Jane Harber. Hopefully, this will be a help to her readers. 

I have been asked by my author friends to give them a few tips on getting more book sales. Today I will give 5 tips. I will be giving 5 tips for book sales every week. Be sure to keep checking in to see the new posts.

1.    Don't be shy about telling people you know that you have a contract to have your book published. Have someone take a picture of you with your contract and include it with an article that you have written about your book and the process you have been through. This works really well in a small hometown paper. If you grew up in a small town, don't forget to send this to them also.

2.     If you don't have a facebook profile page, you really need to get one. Tell everyone about your book, but be sure to be yourself, also. Put your book title and your website address in your permanent information box under your profile picture. That way, you don't have to be "in your face" to people about your book.

3.     Send an email to your email contacts about your book. If it has been out a while, offer it at a discounted price. Paypal has a button you can put on a simple email so that those who would rather use a credit card to purchase can do so right on the email.

4.     Speaking of Paypal, go to paypal.com and study all of the options they have for you. I like them because they don't charge unless you have a sale. Then it is just a small percentage. They have so much to offer, you will need to take a little time to see how to best utilize everything. I put paypal buttons on my weekly newsletter and shopping carts on my website. It is handy for everyone.

5.    Subscribe to blogs that have helpful hints and marketing help. I have a dozen that I read every week. I take notes on the things that I think will work for me and delete the things I am not ready for. I have a folder in my email for those who are the best of the best ideas. I spend anywhere from 1 to 5 hrs a day marketing.

If you have questions about any of these 5 tips or want more details, leave a comment and I will get back to you.

I offer personal coaching to authors. The first week is $5. If you find my coaching helpful, the cost is $50 per month. Contact me at http://elainelittau.com/