The Top 10 Reasons Why Authors Should Network with & Market to Libraries

When one of my coaching clients asked me what I thought were the top 10 reasons why authors should network with libraries, I created this quick list.

1. Libraries BUY books.
2. People still use libraries and will continue to do so.
3. Libraries are getting into ebooks.
4. Libraries love author visits.
5. Libraries often have other events you can attend.
6. You can arrange to sell your books to patrons during events in a library.
7. Libraries know other authors to which you can connect.
8. Libraries give your books more exposure.
9. Public Lending Right Commission will pay Canadian authors every year based on how many of their works are in public libraries, while Access Copyright pays authors for the use of their work in educational systems (& elsewhere).
10. You’ll be able to tell readers your books are in the library.

Authors and libraries go hand in hand. Both have a love for the written word, for books and ebooks. Both can work together compatibly to give readers what they want--access to books and ebooks. It's a win-win for everyone concerned.

Nancy Ancowitz shares 10 tips for new and aspiring authors

I want to share some great advice I found in TIPS for WRITERS from the PUBLISHING INSIDER, a newsletter distributed by publishing expert Jerry D. Simmons. Nancy Ancowitz recently blogged on PsychologyToday.com, sharing her tips for new and aspiring authors.

My advice: 10 tips for new and aspiring authors

1. Purpose. Get clear about why you want to write a book versus an article or something else. Is it to reach more people, build your personal brand, hit the jackpot on the New York Times’s Best Sellers list?
2.  Money. Determine how you’ll juggle making a living while writing your book. Will you save up plenty of money, go on sabbatical, work part-time—or work full time while writing your manuscript at night and just take catnaps while standing in elevators?
3. Self-publishing versus conventional publishing. Weigh the pros and cons of self-publishing and e-book publishing versus conventional publishing. If you decide to go the conventional route, find a literary agent who is passionate about your book idea. She will “shop” your manuscript around at publishing houses and help negotiate the best terms for you. For a list of agents, check out theAssociation of Authors’ Representatives; also ask published authors for their recommendations.
4. Branding. Start building your brand long before your book is published by writing, speaking, using social media tools, organizing and/or joining special interest groups, and spreading the word through your network.
5. Product. Consider whether you want to offer a product or service in connection with your book. If so, set the wheels in motion now so that when your book comes out, you’ll have more to offer your readers.
6. Public speaking. If you’re not already comfortable with public speaking, which is an important skill for an author, take a course, hire a coach, join Toastmasters International, and get some practice, even at small, approachable venues. Down the road, closer to the time of your book launch, also consider investing in press training to buff up your skills at answering questions on the spot for media interviews.
7. Published authors. Meet them. Buy their books and review them on Amazon. Gain from their insights. Build relationships with them and ask for their advice about your book.
8. Publicity. Save up now to hire a publicist, but don’t rely on him to do all the work. You’re the engine; start building relationships with journalists and organizations where you can speak that are interested in your topic.
9. Information for authors.Read books, magazines, blogs, social networking sites, and other resources to become an informed author. Check these out: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published by Sheree Bykofsky (whose literary agency represents me) and Jennifer Basye Sander; Poets & Writersmagazine.
10. Support. Get the support you need to write your book. Join or form a group of other authors, turn to a mentor, hire a coach, start a Meetup or Tweetup, and read, comment, and post questions to authors’ blogs. You’ll benefit from having a community of authors and can learn a lot from one another.

Read Nancy's full post on PsychologyToday.com.

Printed here with permission from Jerry D. Simmons (WritersReaders.com) and Nancy Ancowitz.

Website design tips for new or aspiring authors

Here are a couple of tips for new or aspiring authors who want to create a website to get them "off the ground", but without the costs.

1. Buy/register your domain name. For authors, the best domain name is your author name. It's the first thing people will put in the browser bar when hoping to view your site. I recommend you get your domain names from http://www.namesecure.com/ but you can use any registry service.

2. Sign up for a Google account. This gives you access to so many tools and allows you to register on Blogger for a blog.

3. Start a blog on Blogger. Blogger has new templates that are customizable. You can also add pages to your blog, giving it more of a "website" feel. You'll have access to lots of easy widgets and gadgets that will make your blog colorful and fun--for you and your readers. Design your new site.

4. Then link your domain name to your blog. This is done in different ways, depending on the domain registry, but at the very least you can forward your domain name to the blogger blog.

5. Don't spend big bucks on website design if you haven't got a book published. Don't pay someone to update it for you either. Save that for when you've got a book out. For now you want to brand YOU.

Happy blogging and have fun creating your website.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif
author & book marketing coach

Authors: promote your books on NovelRank, Kobo, Kindle and litHouse

Authors: here are some great promotional links you may want to check out:

NOVELRANK:

If you haven't heard of NovelRank yet, it's because they're new. If you've used TitleZ in the past to track books and sales ranks of Amazon, you'll know Amazon recently removed Kindle version tracking. www.NovelRank.com is a similar tracking service and best of all it's free. While you can't compare book sales side by side (like TZ), there are extra stats I know you'll love--like the Twitter search and sales data. I really recommend you check it out. Also, check out Mario's blog for NovelRank. He'll promote you if you're willing to donate a book for one of his monthly draws. http://www.novelrank.com/blog/donate-novel-authors-monthly-promotion-and-giveaway/

KOBO:

Kobo is the new name for Shortcovers, an e-book retailer in Canada that offers e-books on a variety of platforms and devices. Shortcovers originated as a side-business of Indigo Books & Music, but recently broke away, found major investors and renamed to KOBO. Authors can sell short stories, collections of stories and books. Readers can read on PCs, laptops or smart phones. www.KoboBooks.com 

KINDLE:

Authors in Canada can now sell their e-books through Amazon's Kindle. It's not the easiest to figure out how to get started so here's the link: https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin 

You must have an ISBN to sell your books at most online retailers, and in Canada you can register for ISBNs free at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ciss-ssci/app/index.php?fuseaction=priv.registration (In the US, I believe you pay $50.)

LITHOUSE:

If you offer writing, publishing or marketing services, you can promote your business by posting a free ad at www.lithouse.com

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Will a publisher do the book marketing for me?

I often receive emails from aspiring authors who want to know if they can find a publisher who will do all their marketing (or most of it) for them. Sometimes the author isn't confident they can promote their book; sometimes it's a matter of the author having no money to invest in their marketing endeavors. Getting a book published is only half the battle, and authors need to recognize that and prepare for the other half--marketing their books.

In my experience, and from everything I've read and heard from publishers, agents and other authors, there is no such 'free' ride. Authors must be willing to promote their books if they want them to sell. Publishers nowadays only want to take a risk on new authors who are enthused about marketing their books. In fact, they often ask you upfront, before they sign you, what your marketing plans are. And you have to have some. It's that simple.

Most publishers do little marketing beyond their initial catalogues, industry notices, ads in magazines or newspapers--unless you're a big-name author. It's really up to authors to get the word out. Your publisher might print some promotional material for you--posters, bookmarks or business cards. Most authors pay for their own expenses during book tours, including travel, lodging and meals. The distributors have sales teams who go into bookstores to try to sell books to the store owner/manager. Sales teams often don't do much for authors who don't promote their books. Why should they when they have other authors out there busting their butts to sell books? :-)

An author in today's world--who wants to be successful and actually make some money back to pay for their marketing endeavors--must be proactive.

The five musts that every author should have:

1. a professional author's site with domain name and no free hosting
2. a blog that's updated at least once a week
3. Facebook account and knowledge in how to use it properly
4. MySpace account and knowledge in how to use it properly
5. Twitter account and knowledge in how to use it properly

Those are the basics in today's marketing. Nothing is free. It takes hard, dedicated persistence to make a book successful. The meaning of success can vary from person to person. I look at success in two levels--basic level: lots of readers who love the book and enough sales to pay for the $5000+ it costs to market a book efficiently; and advanced level of success: major traditional publishing contracts, great distribution, and major bestselling status, which all equals money I could live on.

What I've described above is the real world of publishing. It's a tough industry to break into because the competition is HUGE! You're competing against billions of authors. If you want your book to sell and be successful, you have to be part of the marketing--a huge part.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author & book marketing coach
http://www.shamelessbookpromoter.com
http://www.cherylktardif.com

Top Ten Must-Haves for Aspiring Authors

Here are the top ten things I believe every writer must have if they aspire to be a published author. ~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author

1.	Domain name - you can register and buy a domain name, preferably your author name, at Namesecure.com or other domain registrars.
2.	Website - you'll need a website that looks professional and that you can have your domain name linked to. Do not use free site companies as the ads they place will make you look like an amateur.
3.	Blog - you can easily set up a blog and link it to your site so people can find it easily. Try a blog from Blogger.com or Wordpress.com for easy to maintain templates.
4.	Twitter account - a Twitter account will put you and your work in front of people instantly. Try to tweet something every day and you'll have people following you in no time. The more people who see you, the more potential sales you could have when you are published.
5.	Facebook & MySpace accounts - these accounts will help you connect with other writers and published authors. You should also connect with publishers, libraries, schools, agents, editors, magazines etc. Learn from your 'friends' here, connect with them, build genuine relationships, and when you're ready to have a book blurbed, you'll know who to contact.
6.	Talent - you must have a natural talent at not only thinking up a good story or telling a good story but writing a good story. Without natural talent, all the writing courses in the world can't help you.
7.	Ability to take constructive criticism - you won't go anywhere if you refuse to improve and all works can be improved. If you want to go far in this business, you'll need to learn to leave your ego at the door. Feedback and criticism is a gift. Take a few days to think about any feedback you get. Ask yourself if changing things would make your work better. If you get the same comments from a variety of people, listen to them!
8.	Persistence - this is a slow moving business and you must be able to persevere no matter what. You WILL get rejection letters. Your work WILL be rejected. But it's a numbers game. Wade through the nos to get to that yes! Keep moving forward no matter the roadblocks.
9.	Dedication - you must dedicate yourself to writing the best possible works you can and to always learning about the craft of writing and the business of publishing and promoting.
10.	Belief! Without belief in yourself and your skills as a writer you won't go far. If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else? You must believe without a shadow of doubt that your work deserves to be on a bookstore shelf. Without BELIEF, the first 9 must-haves will be useless.