How do you write a bestseller?

                                               by Trina Boice
                                         www.TrinaBoice.com


Once you've gone to all the trouble of writing a book…

It just makes sense to put in the little extra effort it takes to make it a bestseller. In fact…

It's almost ESSENTIAL for anyone hoping to turn their book, their message, into a solid income-producing career of coaching, public speaking, and further publishing success.

You see … a book, by itself, is not a business.

But when you can add “best-selling author” to your resume, you throw open the doors of possibility.

The trouble is:

Most authors have no clue how to do it!
But Peggy McColl sure does.

And on Monday, October 30th at 3pm ET you can join Peggy as she explains not only how to make YOUR book a bestseller (whether you’ve written it yet, or not) … but also how to use your new bestseller status as a springboard for spreading your message through speaking engagements, coaching programs, and more.

…and hopefully make a VERY comfortable living from it, too! (As she does.)

If you'd like to see how it's done, simply use the following link to visit the registration page. (Yes, you do need to register even though it's free because attendance is limited.)

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4867932

You'll also find more details on this event there, too.

Trina

P.S. – This special online training event is for ALL authors who are serious about doing more than merely “write a book”. If you too would like to become a “bestselling author” and leverage that success into a full-blown, high-paying career…

Then this definitely is for you! Please act quickly so you won’t miss out – use the link below to register today:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4867932

Marketing 101

Writing an engaging story is a major challenge and a wonderful accomplishment. It requires skill and knowledge, practice and perseverence. Over time, as we work to improve our craft, our writing gets stronger proportional to the effort we put in to our personal writing improvement. Still, as challenging as writing can be, for an author, writing the story may be the easy part. Once the story is submitted, accepted, edited, revised and edited a couple of more times we are feeling good about our work, and maybe getting a little tired of it. But the work is just beginning. Now comes the challenge of marketing our work. Auuugh!

The book is finished. Now what? How do we generate buzz for our work? How do we get the word out? Who do we market to? What activities will help us find the success we're seeking? Here are a couple of things I'm trying to do as I market my new book, Crater Lake: Battle for Wizard Island.

1- Online Book Promotion: Have an online presence.
- Create a Facebook Fan Page. Post updates and interesting thoughts relevent to the book.
- Twitter- Actively participate in Twitter to get your name and the name of your book out there for others to see and think about.
- Web Page- create and maintain a professional looking web page with information about you and your book
- Create a book trailer and post to uTube, your blog, FB, your website, etc.
- Organize a blog tour. Your publisher may help you in this but if not, follow a number of blogs relevant to your book and audience and build relationships. Ask people to review your work. They may say no, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
- Seek additional reviews on Amazon, Goodreads etc. People won't know what you need or what you want unless you ask. People you ask may not always respond, but it's easy to ask and doesn't cost you a thing.

There are many other things you can do to build up your online presence but remember, it's not necessary to beat people over the head marketing your book. Keep it fun and interesting. Sometimes marketing will be overt, but sometimes it is covert by asking an interesting question or sharing a fun story that gets people thinking that you might have something to say that they may be interested in reading.

2- Traditional Book Promotion:
- Build relationships with local bookstores and arrange for a launch party and additonal book signings.
- Prepare a press release and contact newspapers, radio & TV stations. Think BIG and think small. Local is good but you may as well send notifactions to the larger outlets as well. It's easy to do, doesn't cost you anything, and the worst that happens is they don't run your story.
- Donate a couple of copies of your book to local and school libraries and ask them to hang a poster of your book on the wall or pass out some book marks.
- If appropriate, set up school visits to make presentations.
- Attend writing conferences to improve your craft and network with other authors
- Utilize Family and Friends to help you market your book. It doesn't need to be a formal thing like you're running a political campaign, but let your biggest fans help spread the word.

These ideas are not novel, but when we put together a marketing strategy aimed at reaching the ideal audience, we set goals, and then work the plan, our work will have a better chance of getting into the hands of more readers. Remember the old addage: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Marketing doesn't happen by accident. It takes effort. And unless your publisher is willing to put loads of effort and money into marketing your book (which most will not), it's up to you. Find what works for you, and attack your marketing plan to make it happen.

Everything You Should Know About the Book Industry

                                                                  by Trina Boice
                                                            http://www.trinaboice.com/


I recently attended an awesome webinar, hosted by bestselling author, Arielle Ford, and marketing guru, Mike Koenigs.  Together, they talked about why some authors make it big, while so many other authors fail. 
You can hear part of their discussion at: http://tinyurl.com/3p2q5cc

Because Arielle has worked all aspects of the industry (author, literary agent, publisher), she's definitely worth listening to.  She talked about what publishers and agents really look for and what successful authors always do first.  Do you want to know what that is?

The biggest take-away for me was to create a book with the end in mind or, in other words, start with the marketing first before you even begin to write.  Publishers are looking for an author with a platform.  A platform includes your "hook" and why your material is better than anyone else's, but also includes your fan base and how you can prove to a publisher that you already have "x" number of adoring fans who will buy your book the minute it hits store shelves.  While we authors love to think our writing is all about the craft, publishing houses are more interested in the saleability of our work.  Being an author also means having a head for business.

So here's a tip....begin branding yourself even if you haven't started writing that Great American Novel yet.  Create a platform and name for yourself that will get people talking even before your book comes out.  Publishers are looking to authors more and more to participate in the marketing process.  Long gone are the days when an author handed over a manuscript and the publisher did all the rest of the work to bring the book to market.  There is much an author can do to increase the success rate of her book.

Check out the following video to hear more about what Arielle has learned from her many successful years in the industry:  http://tinyurl.com/3p2q5cc

Interview with Cedar Fort Marketing Director: Kirt Forakis

Kirt Forakis is the new Marketing Director with Cedar Fort Publishing. I appreciate him taking the time to answer a few of my questions about the role of marketing in publishing and the philosophy of Cedar Fort's marketing efforts.

Steve: Please tell us something you are normally too shy or humble to admit about yourself.

Kirt: I won Utah state champion in physics and represented Utah in Nationals and was on the Deans list almost every semester in college.

Steve: As Marketing Director, how will your marketing experience strengthen Cedar Fort as a publisher?

Kirt: Cedar Fort wants to get more involved with social media and gorilla marketing and I have seen success using both methods. I will help Cedar Fort expand their marketing avenues using proven methods and creative thinking.

Steve: How has your previous experience prepared you for this new role?

Kirt: First, I love marketing and advertising. It is a passion for me and I never stop learning or trying new ideas. Second, I have a lot of experience. I have used almost every advertising method I can find and have used several different ad campaigns and designs. Tracking is also important to me and I have tracked most the campaigns I have run. I have a good idea of what types of advertising tends to work and what does not. I have experience organizing and managing events, giveaways, websites, social media outlets, design teams, customer service, PR and media relations.

Steve: What is your marketing philosophy?

Kirt: In short, marketing needs to generate results and wow your audience. I believe you need to capture the attention of your audience within a few seconds and from there have a call to action that creates a direct response, preferably a purchase. From there, it needs to be as easy as possible to move from the advertisement or media to the decision making and purchasing phase.

Steve: What should writers expect from the publisher in terms of marketing effort?

Kirt: We will be using our experience and creativity to help authors reach their audience and reach their goals. Authors are the best marketing tools and so our goal is to teach them and give them direction in their efforts. We will work with authors throughout the entire process to help create a marketing plan and other materials that will be useful to make their book successful.

Steve: What should the author do personally to market their work?

Kirt: Everything they can! A publisher can only do so much and go so far. The author holds the keys and can make the difference between an average selling book and a top seller. Authors need to finish two important steps for their book to sell well. First, write a great book and second, do a great job marketing it. We will be producing an author training packet that will outline what an author can and should be doing to market their book that will contain details, examples, tips and screen shoots. Again, we will be here to help along the way and get authors started in the right direction.

Steve: What is your vision for marketing LDS based fiction and non-fiction in the LDS community?

Kirt: This will depend on the demographics for the book. There are several ways to market a book and first you start with “who” you are going to market to. Once you know the “who”, then we can plan the “how”. There are several LDS websites, blogs and social media sites that appeal to certain markets and we will find the ones that work for individual books. We already work with some LDS based media and authors are encouraged to find more places to talk about and discuss there books.

Steve: What is your vision for marketing Non LDS based fiction and non-fiction regionally and nationally?

Kirt: Again, this depends on the “who”. We have several media outlets for national and regional, but the genre of the book will direct the process further. For example, we will focus cookbooks to media that involves cooking in general. The author is advised to seek out any form of media related to their book and contact them. Some will request the publisher to contact them and we will contact corporate in such cases. Using marketing material will help your chances of getting on these media outlets such as reviews and press releases. These items should be thought through and included in the marketing plan.

Steve: What should every author understand about the marketing process at Cedar Fort?

Kirt: First, we need to start getting support material such as reviews, press releases, endorsements and so forth. These will be useful for creating buzz and initial sales. It is good to talk with authors over the phone or in person to make sure we understand each other and establish a good working relationship. Second, we will put together a marketing plan that outlines the “who” and the “how” for the book. It will include an outline and details for dates, goals and possibilities that need explored by the authors and by us. Social media will need to be set up and authors will need to be interactive on them to generate followers. The authors will then start plans for a launch event, book signings and interviews. We are here to help. We will work with corporate and other places where an author can get stuck such as Deseret Book and Barnes and Nobel. Training material is being created as fast as we can and will be a valuable resource for authors for a step by step of the marketing process.

Thank you Kirt for sharing some insight to the marketing process at Cedar Fort.

As Kirt said, authors have two main responsibilities. 1- Write an outstanding book. 2- Reach the intended audience through personal marketing efforts. Cedar Fort is committed to providing an Author Training Packet that will assist the author in learning how to effectively market their work. The publisher and the author are a team. Both have interest in making each work successful and by working together they can build an effective marketing plan.

The Pickup Artist and A Captive Audience

I was never particularly good at using pickup lines as young man. I thought they were corny and transparent, so I rarely ventured much past "Hi" -- a deficiency sadly reflected in my weak social calendar .

Now, some twenty years after (successfully)(mercifully) leaving the dating scene, I find myself returning to the world of Pickup Lines, although I now call them by a more mature name: Pitches.

I recently had a book signing at our local LDS bookstore, and a few things finally clicked into place for me. I had my table set by the door, a plate of chocolate, and a stack of printed pages ready to fold into paper airplanes.

As people walked through, I would offer them chocolate. If they had kids, I would offer paper airplanes. One young family tumbled into the store, and within thirty seconds I was down four planes and ten pieces of candy--the youngest looking like a squirrel with a cheek full of nuts.

But I digress. At first, as I would offer the chocolate, half of the customers would politely refuse, and the other half would come and take a piece. A very few of those taking some candy would linger for a moment, looking at my book and handouts, and I would take a moment to tell them about my book. However, nobody was buying.

But as the signing wore on, I realized that even those who didn't take time to linger still took 5-10 seconds selecting their piece of chocolate. For those brief seconds, I had a captive audience. So I decided to try something.

As people reached for the candy plate, I said, "I'm here today letting people know about my new book." Go ahead--time yourself reading that aloud. I get 3.5 seconds. And that was it.

With that brief pitch in place, nearly every candy eater then became a lingerer, looking at my book and other materials and listening to my full-length book pitch. And a significant number those ended up buying.

All because I found a way to connect with a potential reader, and had the courage to throw a four-second pitch at a captive audience.

I've come to accept that book signings are all about connecting with customers, and actual sales are secondary. To that end, I think it's essential to come up with a strategy to rise above the noise. For me, that has been chocolate and paper airplanes.

And it seems to be working. Let me share with you a portion of an email I got a few weeks ago, showing exactly how that connection helps.

I picked up your book on Saturday...and honestly, I was a little unsure if I would like it. But, I felt I needed to be supportive of a new author putting himself out there and I wanted the paper airplane.  I didn't pick up the book again until Tuesday morning and then I struggled to put it down to work and drive. I even got up early Wednesday morning to finish it before heading off to work. What a fun read! 

All because of a folded piece of paper, and a concerted effort to connect.

How To Write A Good Book Quickly

                                                           
                                                              By Trina Boice
                                                         http://www.boicebox.com/

Are you working on a book?  If so, check out this short video with tips for writing a good book quickly:
http://www.yourquantumleap.com/bookwritingtips.htm


In his video, Steve Harrison, expert book promoter and author coach, shares seven tips that'll help you easily break through the roadblocks that stop you from getting your book out now including:

* The single most important concept which separates a great book (and great selling book!) from a poor book.

* How you can emulate other successful writers to create your own bestseller.

* The biggest mistakes authors make in the writing process that really slow them down.

* The one, simple, easy and FAST technique which you can use TODAY to write your book.

* The one personality trait, shared by many authors, which really sabotages them.

In addition to his Quantum Leap program, Steve Harrison also publishes the Radio-TV Interview Report, which has become a bible for talk-show hosts and producers looking for interesting people to interview.  Growing out of the industry contacts he’s built up through the Report is Steve’s annual National Publicity Summit, where writers can brush shoulders with many of the gatekeepers in the talk-show industry.

I discovered Steve Harrison several months ago and really love his teleseminars.  Great material for authors!
Check him out!

By the way, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you wonderful moms out there who inspire our writing dreams!  We love you!

Trina

Going Viral. Or Not.

A dozen years ago, I had an experience that I fear skewed my perception of normal when it comes to generating publicity. Some of you may even remember this event.

Three of my sisters were all pregnant at the same time, with due dates spread over a span of eight weeks. This was the cause of some confusion early on a winter's morning when one sister called my mom and, in a pinched, mid-contraction voice said, "My water broke and I'm on my way to the hospital."

My mom's reply was, "Who is this?" It turns out it was the oldest sister, and the one farthest from her due date. The baby came quickly.

Sister number two visited the new baby on the way to her own OB appointment in the same hospital. The OB sent her back to the maternity ward, announcing that she was significantly dilated, and within hours the second baby was born.

The excitement of two cousins being born in the same morning and at the same hospital was a lot of fun, but it was also very difficult for sister number three, as she was "the most pregnant" and the only one actually due. Exhausted, she went to bed early and cried herself to sleep, only to be awakened by contractions a few hours later. Before the night was over, the third cousin had been born.

I thought this was all pretty cool, and so the next day at work I filled in an online tip form at the Associated Press website. This one simple act set off a firestorm of interest, resulting in calls from news organizations as far away as Germany and Japan, articles in People magazine, and an appearance on Oprah.

Yes, my sisters and their babies were on Oprah. And it all started with a single email.

When Bumpy Landings was released earlier this year, I knew that it was nothing as exciting as three sisters giving birth on the same day, and I had no delusions of getting a call from Oprah. However, I will admit that, in the back of my mind, I expected a similarly smooth (albeit much less grand) path to popularity.

After all, my book had a fun hook, an exotic location, and two unique book trailers. Which I have gratuitously posted below. Because I can.

However, I'm finding the skids aren't so easily greased for a niche-market novel as they are for multiple births, and this whole book marketing thing is lot more effort than I imagined. Months after release, and despite positive reviews and concerted personal effort, many independent LDS bookstores haven't heard of me or my book. Even employees at bookstores that do carry Bumpy Landings right there on the shelf claim they have never heard of it.

The road out of obscurity is steep, and I fear it might be a long one.

Of course, I haven't ruled out the possibility that I used up all of my publicity karma back in 1998.

Perhaps it only works when somebody else fills out the form.

Or maybe, just maybe, the universe is determined to keep me from the public eye. After all had those three babies come just one day earlier, they would have been born on my 30th birthday.

And then I could have been on Oprah, too.

Promotion Takes Time

I'm pleased to announce that I'll have two book signings for The Upside of Down at Pioneer Book, 858 S. State, Orem, UT on Friday, March 18th, 4:00-6:00 pm and again on Saturday, March 19th, 12:00-2:00 pm. I'd love to have you stop by and say hello. Pioneer Book has been very accommodating and I really appreciate the opportunity to do a book signing.

I recently discovered that my book is in the spring Seagull Book catalog. Yay! I'm so excited to see it in this catalog.

I've also been very pleased with reviews by Tristi Pinkston and Sheila Staley.

My book has also received some great reviews over at Goodreads.

I've been working on promoting this book for months and I'm happy to see that it's finally getting some attention. As writers, I think we're so anxious to get the word out about our books that we become very impatient--we expect results right away. In my experience, it takes time. Marketing is a long process and it takes time to see results. I wrote a guest post for Cedar Fort Books about 10 things to do to create an online presence.

If you're looking to build interest in your book I recommend a few things:

1. LDSPublisher. You can choose to sponsor the blog for a month or pay a small fee to advertise your book in the sidebar. If you choose to sponsor, you will be required to send a copy of your book to a comment winner drawn randomly at the end of the month. Visit LDSPublisher for more information.

2. Goodreads. You can advertise on Goodreads to create interest in your book. You pay ahead for the ad and Goodreads charges against that amount to display your ad to your target market until the credit is gone. You can also do a giveaway. You simply register the details with Goodreads and choose what date(s) you want to have the giveaway contest. For my giveaway over 1200 people entered.

3. Facebook. You can advertise on FB for a small fee. You can target your market with the various options so only those who you think will be interested in your book will see your ad.

4. Blog Hop. The concept behind a blog hop is that people jump (or hop) from one blog to the next. Each blog is tied to the others through a link and you offer a book related prize in exchange for people becoming followers, liking your FB fan page, or signing up for a newsletter (or whatever you determine makes them eligible to win the prize you're offering).

5. Virtual Blog Tour. Send out copies of your book to various bloggers in exchange for a review.

You can read more on my article at Cedar Fort Books. Just remember, building interest takes time. Don't wait until your book is out before you start your marketing and promotional efforts. I recommend starting about 2-3 months prior to your release date by talking about it on your blog, posting information and cover images on your blog and website, and announcing it to email groups you're a part of. You can also set up a Goodreads giveaway to begin before your release date and you can create interest by offering a contest for pre-orders.

And, don't forget to work on your next book because your best marketing effort to build a fan base will be to write another, better book.

Marketing: Where the Rubber Hits the Runway

I love writing, and am proud to call myself a writer, yet it's been weeks and weeks since I've actually written anything. Instead, I've (temporarily) become that somewhat scary and misunderstood creature, a Marketer.

This past week I had the privilege of introducing Bumpy Landings to the world, and I've learned quite a bit in that short time. I'm by no means an expert, but I thought it would be helpful for both you and me if I shared three of the lessons I've learned.

1. Have books on hand and be prepared to sell them. My home teacher came by the day after my books arrived, and I proudly showed them to him. He asked where he could buy one, and I pointed him to Amazon and Moon's LDS bookstore in Dallas. After he left, my wife said, "I think he really wanted to buy one from you."

I answered that these were copies for me to send to reviewers, but as I thought about it I realized I could always get more for them. So I took one with me the next time we met, and he eagerly bought it. I have since schlepped a box of books with me everywhere I go, and when people ask where they can buy one, I say "Right here."

Being prepared also applies to having business cards with book info in my pocket, and preparing a smooth 30-second pitch. I'm still working on that, but it's gotten a lot better than "It's about this guy, and, um, there are airplanes..."

2. Play to your (and your book's) strengths. My book is set in Hawai'i, so I've adopted that as the theme for much of my promotion. The idea of "escaping the winter chill" features prominently in my marketing material, and people have commented that Bumpy Landings helps them do just that.

At a recent signing, I took my ukulele to fill in the quiet spots. I'm hardly a master strummer, but it was fun for both me and the people I was with. Also, notice the little paper airplane to the side of my stack of books. Since Bumpy Landings features flying as part of its central conflict, I printed up airplane patterns with the cover colors and book title, and give them out to kids. I have no idea how effective they will be as marketing tool, but they sure are fun.

3. Include your friends. I stand by my assertion that the best part of this whole writing gig has been the friends I've made in the writing community. This past Saturday, I was invited to participate with three of those friends at a signing in Logan at The Book Table. Having friends at the store made it especially fun, as we were able to talk amongst ourselves during the slow periods, and we were able to attract a broader range of readers.

(Okay, actually everyone came to see Tristi, but that worked out well for the rest of us.)

Once the signing was over, we worked our way down the Wasatch Front, stopping at bookstores and libraries to introduce ourselves and share bookmarks. I learned a ton from hanging out with Tristi and Rebecca and Daron, and I look forward to planning events with other authors in the very near future.

What are some of the marketing lessons you have to share?

Open Season on Wombats

It's great to see the promotional efforts the authors with upcoming releases are making. I have to chuckle over all the questions I've had to field about the references to Australian marsupials on my website and blog lately. Curiosity has been rampant about my mysterious "password protected" pages.

As of Monday, my WOMBAT RECRUITING site went public and the news is out. I'm not talking about cute little mammals from down under; I'm talking about marketing my book. WOMBAT, you see, stands for Word of Mouth Buy And Tell, the natural, organic way that we have been creating exposure for our books in this market for years. Blog tours, reviews, interviews, Facebook and email blasts, launch parties, posters and bookmarks have long been staples in getting the word out, and I'm sticking with those standbys for my campaign for The Rogue Shop's December 8th release. The difference is, I'm trying to stimulate even greater enthusiasm by offering some attractive incentives.

I've seen authors give away a book or two, and one recently offered up a Kindle to the person who generated the most buzz for her book. I'm trying to build a small army of WOMBAT warriors who really like or are anticipating my book, so I'm throwing out up to $255 in amazon.com gift cards to those who really take this show on the road.

Most of us know we're not going to get rich anytime soon writing fiction for our little market and publisher. We do, however, want as many people as possible to read our books. In order to maximize that potential, we need to make ourselves visible on this vast sphere of noise called the internet and make it clear that we have something worth buying. The investment in these prizes is well-worth it to me if a select group of individuals will take a few minutes and help create this visibility with me.

How well will this work? I have no idea. It's an experiment, and I'm willing to share the nuts-and-bolts and results with my fellow Cedar Fort authors so we can all learn something. If it does have a positive impact, I'll be happy to reciprocate and participate in similar programs for you when your time comes. If all goes well, I'll put more books in readers' hands and you get more blog traffic and followers - setting you up for more book sales down the line. Oh, and you may very well walk away with a gift card worth up to $50, too. This is not a random drawing -- it's purely based on the number of points accumulated with your activities.

Go to http://michaelknudsenauthor.com/676-2/ to find out exactly what kind of WOMBATical activities I'm talking about, and how to earn the rewards. Meanwhile, in the comments let's invite some of the established authors to tell about the things they've done that resulted in more sold books, or in positive buzz. Have online advertising, blog tours, or video trailers worked for you? There are no trade secrets here; we're all in this together!

By the way, if you haven't seen Don Carey's utterly charming video teaser for Bumpy Landings (even if you have, like Inception it gets better with repeat viewings), go directly to Monday's post on this blog!

psst, Don -- do I get another point for that?