Some marketing books I highly recommend

If you're an author and you want to do your own marketing rather than pay someone else thousands of dollars per year to do it, you will need some really good resource tools.

These are the 5 books I highly recommend you buy, read, highlight, read again, follow, read again and take action on:

What Writers Need to Know About Publishers by Jerry D. Simmons (my friend and mentor)
Plug Your Book by Steve Weber
1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer
Beyond the Bookstore by Brian Jud
Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny Sansevieri

I've met 4/5 of these authors and they are awesome people with some great ideas. And having these ideas at your fingertips is certainly much easier than trying to hunt down this information online every time you need it. These books are my 'bibles' of my trade.

Twitter 101: Tweet Marketing

Twitter Tips:

Most of you probably already use Twitter. If not, you really should be! Some of you may be wondering: what's the big deal? The potential for selling your book is only surpassed by the potential for making great relationships with readers―ones who will spread the news to all their friends, and they'll tell 100 friends, and so on and so on…

Author John Locke, a publishing sensation, credits Twitter as largely responsible for his success. He's the first independent author to sell over 1 million ebooks on Amazon. And there are only 8 authors who've achieved the million ebook mark. Maybe you'll be the next.

So how do you use Twitter to market your ebooks? Simple, you create relationships. You get to meet people from anywhere in the world. There are some pretty cool people out there. By showing a genuine interest in people, you'll gather more followers. Eventually, some will read your book. Maybe they'll tweet about how much they enjoyed it. Maybe they'll write a review. Maybe they'll suggest it to their book club, or to a producer they know. This actually happens.

There are a variety of ways to find readers on Twitter, some of them quite obvious, I think.

1. Search Twitter for:

Kindle suggestions

Kobo suggestions

Nook suggestions

#books

#fridayreads

#amreading

#ebook (s)

#bookclub (s)

Don't just pitch your book to them, create relationships. Read their profiles. Read their last few tweets. Talk to them at least once before pitching your book to them. Ask them what genres they like? RT one of their tweets. Ask them questions. Answer a question. Yes, you can suggest one of your books, or give them your website, but do try to either answer their question about a suggestion or get to know them.

2. Search for your genre:

#romancenovel

#fantasy

#western

#historicalromance

#thriller

#mystery

#mysterynovel

#technothriller

Look for tweets where people talk about your genre in a positive way. Add to the conversation. See above tips. Always get your URL in there. 

3. Search for authors you think people would compare your writing (for your novel) to. Chat first unless you're already friends with them online or unless they're asking for suggestions.

When pitching them, say something like:

I saw you liked (author). Me too. In fact, he inspired me to write (name of novel) (Amazon URL shortened)

Or…

Since you enjoy (author), I think you may like (name of novel) (Amazon URL)

Using Amazon customers with Twitter:

Step 1: Go to your book’s page on Amazon and look in the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought section.

Step 2: Make a list of the book titles that appear. These are titles YOUR customers have also bought. This means they like those books, plus they think they’ll like yours. This means anyone who likes those other titles may also like yours.

Step 3: Go to twitter and search for those book titles one at a time. When you find someone who has liked that other title, tweet them and say that they may like your title too since they liked ____.

Step 4: Word your tweets differently each time, make them personal, and include link to your ebook on Amazon. Use URL shortener like TinyUrl...or I highly recommend you get Hootsuite. You can then schedule tweets. Huge marketing time saver!!!

If someone says they prefer another genre other than yours, recommend one of your author friends or another author you like. Be helpful. What goes around comes around. :-)

Twitter is a leading, successful social network for one reason: it's social. From personal experience, I can tell you I've sold more ebooks via social networks in the past two months than I have doing 80+ book signings for 2 years. And I've met more people; maybe not face-to-face, but they're still quite happy to meet me on Twitter and buy one of my books. 

And don't forget to follow me: http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif and http://www.twitter.com/imajinbooks

Happy tweeting!

How to be a Tease

Last weekend, I explained how writers need to learn to become a tease and tease readers with bits of information BEFORE their book is released. Creating buzz is important to your success. This weekend, I'm giving you some ideas on how to be a tease.

1. When you sign a book contract or when you decide to self-publish a book, make a small announcement that you have a book deal or that you will be publishing a new work within the year.

2. If working with a publishing company, blog about the process, but don't go into too much detail on the specifics. Always keep in mind that you really want to talk to your target audience, your readers. Give them only enough info about the process that you think they can identify with. Help them identify with the process by comparing it to a more mainstream type of career.

3. When your publisher has shown you the cover, blog about seeing it, but don't describe it. Mention that you'll post it as soon as you can, once your publisher has given you permission to do so. Use the same technique, though obviously different wording, if you're self-publishing.

4. When you see the back cover text, blog about seeing it. Let people know how awesome it is. Again, tease them and let them know you'll post it ASAP.

5. When you are about 2-3 weeks to publishing, post the back cover text. Later, post review blurbs. Post them one at a time. Ask your readers for feedback. What do they think about the description?

6. About 1-2 weeks before, mention that you'll be posting the cover soon and that they should check back. Again, tease them.

7. Post the cover. Make it large. Ask readers what they think? What do they like best about your cover?

8. On release day, let everyone know your book/ebook is available and give them a live link so they can easily click on it and buy it. Always make it easy for your readers to find information on your book and give links to major retailers so they know exactly how to buy a copy.

The above list will always be subject to what your publisher wants you to do. When unsure, always ask. Never post something they send you without clearing it with them first. Often you'll see early drafts of a front cover, or a rough draft of back cover text. Your publisher may also want you to do things a bit differently than the list above.

Becoming a tease is easy for some and more difficult for others. What may make it easier is to always ask: if I were the reader, what would I want? What would tease me? Putting yourself in their shoes is one of the best marketing practices you can learn. Learning to be a tease is another. And this kind of teasing doesn't require nimbleness. Or a pole.

There are other things you can do to tease: post a book trailer video, write a short post about one of your characters, or become a guest blogger/interviewee on someone else's blog.

What else can you do to tease a reader prior to publication?

Cheryl Kaye Tardif,

bestselling author of Children of the Fog

www.cherylktardif.com

Writers Must Learn to Be a Tease

A good writer knows that when writing any novel, they must tease the reader with bits of information, plant red herrings, leave cliff-hangers and dangle a trail of action and emotion to keep the reader in suspense, but what they may not know is that once the book is completed, the real teasing must begin―teasing readers.

Marketing a book is generally divided into two sections: pre-publication or pre-pub marketing and post-publication/post-pub marketing. If you promote your book by dumping all the information in a reader's lap at once, you probably won't see the best results. But if you slowly tease them, heighten their awareness of your book and your name, and build up the anticipation, you'll have readers throwing dollar bills at your new creation.

Like any budding relationship, it's all in the tease. Think of a great romance movie. The lovers didn't just dive into their romance. It built up over time. It started with a look, a laugh, a soft touch, the first date, the first kiss, the challenges they must overcome to be together, the longing for more until finally the couple has had enough of teasing. Why do people go to movies or read books? They love a good tease.

Many expert marketers use the term "create buzz". You want people talking and thinking about your upcoming release. You want them telling their friends so that those friends will tell two people, and so on and so on. You want them anxiously awaiting release day so that they buy your book right away. If they wait too long, something will come up to distract them. Creating buzz should be like a slow strip tease, only instead of stripping, you're adding layers and layers of anticipation.

Teasing effectively is a bit of an art, but it can be learned. Stop by on Saturday for step-by-step instructions on 'How to Be a Tease'.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif,

bestselling author of Children of the Fog

www.cherylktardif.com