Giving Away Books in Contests Can Promote Your Novels

If you’ve ever won a contest or lottery, you’ll know that soaring sensation you get when you’re proclaimed to the world to be a “winner”. We all love to get something for free, don’t we? Some of us also love giving things away, and I’m one of them. Authors, like me, have found many opportunities to give away their ebooks, print books or gift certificates, and by doing so we’re creating relationships with fans and readers, which in turn help me to promote my books.

Over the years I’ve witnessed many ingenious contests held by authors and I’ve learned some things along the way. People don’t really want to just ‘enter’ a contest, they want to participate, interact, be part of the action. If a contest asks them to do more than submit their name, they tend to take more of an interest. So if you’re holding a contest, make it entertaining and interactive.

I’ve held 2 main contests that have been quite successful:

My ‘Create a Corpse Contest’ asks entrants to send in a name (could be fictional or their high school bully or boss or ex-friend) and I “kill off” the character in a novel. In my romantic suspense Lancelot’s Lady, you’ll be meeting one of the corpse winners--Winston Chambers. Trust me, it’s not only amusing to enter this contest, it’s very therapeutic.

My ‘Become a Character Contest’ has entrants submit their own name (or someone else’s) and their character gets to live but might be a good guy/gal or a bad one. In Divine Justice, a thriller my agent is pitching to publishers, you’ll meet one of the winners--Deirdre Dailey. The incentive for people to enter is that they get to choose a novel character’s name and I often give them a free copy. How exciting is that?

How do these contests benefit me as an author? First, they give me something cool to announce, something a bit different from the norm. They appeal to people with a sense of humor--or those who want some secret form of revenge. You can bet they’ll be talking about it, telling their friends. Word of mouth advertising is still one of the best ways to get the word out about virtually anything. Imagine if your best friend told you she was going to be a corpse in a new suspense thriller.

I’ve also held contests on Twitter. Here’s a great way to get your name out, get people re-tweeting for you and create some excitement. I asked other authors to sponsor the prizes. In exchange, I promoted them on my contest page on my website. Twitter is basically “live”. Get their attention now and get them interacting by asking for a reply, something very specific. Limit your winners. In a recent Twitter contest, I gave away free ebooks and asked people to email me if they wanted one. First three to reply won.

How does this benefit me? First, I’m creating a sense of excitement--and we can all use excitement in our lives. I’m also creating “winners”, and who doesn’t want to be one? I’m getting my name out there. People re-tweet my contests to more people “and they tell two friends and so on and so on and…” Plus, I’m building up my email data base with people who are interested in future novels.

Other authors see the value in giving away free books:

“I think the giving away of books for free can be a useful tool as long as it is part of a smart, focused, targeted promotional activity or event,” says Anthony Bidulka, author of the Russell Quant Mystery series.

Betty Dravis, author of the celebrity book Dream Reachers, says, “Giving free copies is a great way to reach out; the more exposure, the better. I mostly give free copies to reviewers and the print media, but blog contests are another good way of reaching more readers.”

“Offering a book for FREE is a good and rewarding idea when you are building readership,” states Edward C. Patterson, author of The Jade Owl. “It should be a temporary measure to stimulate readership or to introduce readers to a series. The exception, I find, is when you are providing information to a specific community, other authors for instance, where it can become an information service and builds into your brand. The other time FREE books are important is as a community donation, such as Operation eBook Drop, where you donate your titles to the men and women in the Armed Forces.”

Next time you need a little buzz and excitement, try an innovative, creative contest that invites your readers to participate. Promotion is hard work, but it should be fun too!

http://www.cherylktardif.com

http://www.cherishdangelo.com

And follow Cheryl on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif

A debut author shares her experiences in self-publishing

Debut author Eileen Schuh candidly shares her experiences in self-publishing her YA novel, The Traz, as an ebook. Eileen decided to self-publish this work and use it to help promote her upcoming novel Schrodinger's Cat, which was picked up by a small traditional publisher and comes out in August 2011.

Great marketing strategy! Not only can Eileen start building up an audience earlier, many readers who read and enjoy The Traz will go on to buy Schrodinger's Cat.

Eileen describes the things she had to do to get set up as a self-published author and get her work ready...

THE TRAZ: Learning to epublish

Final Steps to epublishing

Recipe for a Bestselling Novel

Wouldn't it be great if there was a recipe for making a bestselling novel and if all a writer had to do was gather the ingredients and mix them in, and voila!―a bestselling novel is created? The reality is there are combinations of ingredients that can either get your name on a bestseller's list or fall flatter than an airless cheese soufflé. However, there are some common ingredients that have helped authors achieve bestseller status.

Common Ingredients for a Bestseller:

·       1 cup of well written novel

·       1 cup of professional editing

·       1 cup of professional layout and interior design

·       2 cups of professional book cover, including gripping back cover text

·       1 cup of decent distribution via major online retailers

·       2 cups of book launch, tours and other events, plus advertising

·       3 cups of contests and giveaways by author, publisher or both

·       Countless hours of organization and time

·       Dash of excitement

Method:

Take the well written novel and beat in professional editing until light and readable. Add professional layout and interior design, then stir in professional cover art and back cover text until well combined. Sprinkle in decent distribution until coated and roll mixture out with book launch, tours and events. Top with contests and giveaways, and fold in countless hours of organization and time before adding the finishing touch―a huge dash of excitement. Share with everyone and enjoy!

Reality Check:

While the recipe above may seem kind of silly, these ingredients can lead to a bestselling novel. I know because I've used them all successfully. My novels have made bestsellers lists multiple times on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Some made multiple lists on each in a single day. 

I've also sold over 5000 copies of Whale Song, which in Canada makes it a national bestseller.

So how did I do it? I created an exciting day-long event―a "Bestseller Day"―that had enough goodies to draw people in. It was held on my 44th birthday and I gave away 44 prizes.

There are three main ways to get prizes to offer:

1.) Pay for them (I don't recommend this.)

 2.) Get others to donate them.

3.) Find someone to sponsor the event or the prizes. They pay for something you want to give away and get something in return, whether it's free advertising, a mention in your next book, or some other benefit.

The Benefits:

The first benefit of reaching this "status" is obvious. You can use "bestselling author" when describing yourself. 

The next obvious benefit is that you're selling more books, which means you're earning more. 

Another benefit you may not have thought about is exposure. When people look for a book on Amazon, they'll often search using keywords. If your thriller is in the top 10-20 of books listed under "techno-thriller", for instance, you have a much better chance of being noticed. While on those bestsellers lists, more people will come across your name and your book. The more times people see you and your book online, the better the chance is that they'll buy your book.

Becoming a bestselling author takes persistence, creativity and good organization. Follow this recipe for success and you'll rise like a soufflé. Just don't forget that last ingredient―excitement!

Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a bestselling Canadian author whose critically acclaimed, award-winning novels have inspired much film interest. She's appeared on television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines. Cheryl has also presented at writers' conferences in Canada and the US, mainly on topics of marketing and promotion. She's helped many authors achieve success and does so as a book marketing coach, with Bestseller Days, Virtual Book/Blog Tours and Sponsorships her top 3 most requested topics.

http://www.shamelessbookpromoter.com 

http://www.cherylktardif.com  

Ebook publishers and royalty percentages

Ebook publishers really vary on their terms and royalty percentages, though in general, smaller ebook publishers seem to be more flexible and many offer higher royalties.

Here are a couple of examples:

eHarlequin - (x) On copies of English language electronic editions of Publisher or its Related Licensees sold in North America:
. on the first 100,000 copies of each such edition, six percent (6%) of the Cover Price;
. on the next 100,000 copies of each such edition, seven percent (7%) of the Cover Price;
. on the next 100,000 copies of each such edition, eight percent (8%) of the Cover Price;
. on the next 100,000 copies of each such edition, nine percent (9%) of the Cover Price;
. on all such copies of each such edition thereafter, ten percent (10%) of the Cover Price;
(x) On copies of English language electronic editions of Publisher or its Related Licensees: four percent (4%) of the Cover Price in any country outside of North America.
(x) On copies sold of non-English language electronic editions of Publisher or its Related Licensees: two percent (2%) of Cover Price in any country.

Double-Dragon eBooks - 30 % of the cover price less credit card processing fees for eBooks sold from our site, 30 % of the amount received from a reseller, and 8 % of the retail price for POD print books.

Ellora's Cave - Royalties: 37.5% for digital releases; 7.5 % for print books.
Length of grant of publishing rights: Life of copyright
Includes digital, print, audio, translation, and secondary/subsidiary rights.

Wild Child Publishing - 40% of sales

Wolfsinger Publications - 75% of sales less charges for any handling costs, service fees, or discounts when paid in full by the distributor, bookstore, vendor, organization.

Imajin Books - 50% of sales collected, no charges; term - 5 years.

These are just a few examples of how widely varied author royalties are, and one thing I do advise is to check the other terms very carefully.