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There are two hot book-related issues in the media this week firstly electronic book readers following the U.K release of the Sony Reader and secondly HarperCollins' new authonomy site. I've been aware of both for a while now so what do I think of them? Well its hard to really judge the reader without having a proper look at one, but from what I've read they're easy to use and can hold up to 160 books. They also have an excellent battery which is really important as there's nothing more annoying with gadgets than finding they've died when you want to use them. It is almost very light and has the advantage of no backlight. Would I want one? Yeah, I probably would but they're too pricey for me at the moment (£199 from Waterstone's although they come with a free CD including 100 classic novels) . Would I stop buying books because of them? I doubt it, I have an ipod but I still buy CDs and vinyl. They are also in black and white so at the moment they're only going to be good for fiction. I can't imagine big, beautiful coffee table books disappearing or my favourite 'art of' animation books. I think it would be good if you could read samples of books through them before deciding to buy - I must admit to not knowing if this is the case yet. I've never been one of those people happy to read a chapter or two in a bookshop before deciding to buy so this could save some expensive mistakes. There are also books you know you're going to want to keep and those you won't, as a colleague pointed out if a book is really good you're probably going to want to buy the real thing after having read it electronically. The major drawback I've heard about with electronic readers (another popular make in America is the Kindle) though is that they can go blank for a moment when turning pages which draws you out of the story and also that you can't really flick back a few pages to double check something like double checking a clue or character name. Find out more at www.waterstones.com Now onto the authonomy site. This is a website run by HarperCollins publishers as a way for writers to have their unpublished books read. HC do not accept unsolicited manuscripts so this is supposed to replace the slushpile. There are a few other sites around like this and they all basically work the same way. You upload your book or part of it (in this case 10,000 words or more) and then readers get to vote and comment on it. In return you do the same for other books. The most popular (which should in theory mean the best) are then passed on to an editorial team. On Authonomy they will pick out the top five on a regular basis. The problem with these kind of sites is there are too many people and too many books on them. At the moment there are almost 500 books up for consideration. The later you join then I would imagine the harder it is to move up the ranks. The site has also been running in BETA form (visible to only a chosen few) so again I guess they have a head start. It doesn't say how they were chosen. You have to register to join or read the books and I like the fact that authors can remove their story at any point. 10,000 words is an awfully big chunk of a book though and I'm not sure there's any advantage to having so much on show. HarperCollins state that the wordcount requirement is to guarantee that the books are complete or thereabouts. Its not for me, I did once join another community site like this but never posted anything. The next time I went on there was a harsh childlish message saying I was banned ... forever - I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Let me know what you think about authonomy and electronic readers through the website and if you have a website too mention you'd like me to include the details.

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While at Liverpool Central Library I picked up a copy of a magazine I've not seen before called 'Booktime.' I've been really impressed by its content and will be looking out for further issues. I'm always on the look out for new books to read so a magazine like this can be really helpful. I also like the Waterstone's Books Quarterly and enjoyed Ink magazine which sadly folded after just a few issues. As you'd expect 'Booktime' contains a mixture of reviews, interviews and competitions. There is a lot of children's book related articles including Meg Rosoff's What I Was, The Robber Baron's Daughter by Jamilia Gavin, Joanne Owen's Puppet Master (one I'll be watching out for as I collect puppets and have visited Prague where the story is set) and The Traitor Game by B.R. Collins (another woman writing under initials!). I spent quite a bit of my bank holiday weekend reading and most writers will tell you it is just as important to read lots of books as it is to keep writing. The problem is sometimes you think how on earth can I write anything as good as that? That happened to me after reading in one sitting Siobhan Dowd's 'The London Eye Mystery' I loved Ted the main character and was geniuinelly mystified as to how Salim disappears from one of the eye's pods. Ted has a 'syndrome' and in someways there are parallels to Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' which I also enjoyed but was a darker story. I'll definitely picking up Siobhan's other books, it is such a tragedy she died so young, she was a really talented writer. Another book I read at the weekend was Agatha Christie's 'Murder in Mesopotamia' featuring one of my literary heroes Hercule Poirot. I started reading Christie when I was about twelve and they were the first adult books I read (beginning with 'Peril at End House'). I was hooked immediately and Hercule obviously influenced Dr Midas' fine moustache!" Somehow I'd missed this one when I worked my way through the series and didn't spot the killer for once. I have also started reading 'No Time For Goodbye' (which I got at a discount with The Times newspaper) and found out today that it has been chosen as Richard and Judy's latest Summer Read winner. The premise is really interesting - a girl falls out with her parents and wakes to find they and her brother have disappeared. 25 years later a phone call makes her wonder what happened. I was quite surprised to find the book is written from her husband's point of view, I'm only about 60 pages in so I can't tell yet if its one I'll stick with. I often find I give up with books at around 100 pages in. I've also just realised that all my latest choices were written in the first person. * If you love thrillers, crime and mysteries remember to tune in tonight for the next episode of The ITV Crime Thriller Awards Profiling series on ITV3. The Ian Rankin was one was really good and tonight it's Val McDermid's turn - who wrote the Tony Hill (Wire in the Blood) books and the brilliant 'A Place of Execution.' Next week it's the turn of Morse writer Colin Dexter. Then onto PD James, Lynda La Plante and Ruth Rendell although I don't yet know in which order.

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A really popular competition which set out to find a new children's author will return for the second time this weekend. The winner, Emily Diamand, will have her book 'Reavers' published this October by Chicken House as 'Reavers??? Ransom' and next year it could be you. 2,000 writers entered the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction competition last year (including me!) and I'm sure there'll be as many this time around. The competition last year was for a completed manuscript and the details of this year's requirements will be in The Times on Saturday and no doubt online too. The only details I have for this year so far is that entries must be received by 13th October, and the shortlist will be announced in February 2009. The judging panel will be chaired by Chicken House Managing Director Barry Cunningham and includes author David Almond, consultant Wendy Cooling and Nyree Jillings from Waterstone's. The competition will be really tough but you can still view the shortlisted entries and some tips on the Times website at www.timesonline.co.uk/childrensauthor Judge Malorie Blackman said: "The winning book, Reavers by Emily Diamand, possesses all the qualities I look for in a novel and then some. (And what a dream name for a writer. I'm jealous!). Reavers is an amazing, accomplished story and I feel privileged to have been a part of bringing this story to a wider audience." The Times says 'Reavers' Ransom' is set about 200 years in the future when climate change has caused sea levels to rise. The synopsis on Amazon explains: "Lilly Melkun is out fishing with her sea-cat when the bloodthirsty Reavers come raiding - and steal the Prime Minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails in secret with a ransom - an extraordinary talking jewel. But, nothing can prepare her for what happens next ... "

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If you like adventure books (I love them) you might also like to know that WH Smith are selling the new Max Gordon - Danger Zone book by David Gilman for one month before the official release - it is available elsewhere from July 3. I really enjoyed the first book 'The Devil's Breath' so I had to have this one - and it's huge. Here's the Ice Claw blurb: "A thundering rumble echoes round the mountain peaks of the Pyrenees as a deadly avalanche speeds towards the oblivious competitors in an X-treme sports challenge. Max Gordon's race to win has just become a race to survive. But Max has been betrayed. Sayid, Max's best friend, is injured and missing. Max is accused of murder and the evidence seems conclusive - the hunt for Max Gordon is on. "In a life-or-death struggle, a mysterious monk passes on a vital clue, which plunges Max into the heart of an ancient secret, foretelling of a cataclysmic event that will kill thousands and destroy the entire ecological balance of Europe." David has a fantastic blog and does a lot of hands on research around the world for his books. He is also about to go on tour for 'Ice Claw' beginning Monday 29 June. His blog says; "We start in Preston, then Lancaster, Manchester, London, Devizes and Plymouth. If you see a man carrying a tree trunk it's me - and the tree trunk is the tube I'm using to carry my picture of a massive bear." So far I haven't been able to find out which bookshops he's visiting - I'll update on this post if I hear anything. Check out www.davidgilman.blogspot.com or www.thedangerzone.co.uk for Max Gordon updates. BOOK SIGNINGS * Henry Winkler AKA The Fonz will be signing copies of his new childrens book HANK ZIPZER NIAGARA FALLS OR DOES IT? at WHSmith, Arndale Centre, Manchester on July 6 between 1 and 2pm. * Children's author Patricia Jones who will be signing copies of her latest (fifth) book, at Waterstone's Preston on Saturday July 19 between 2 and 3pm. 'Circles of Blood' is a teenage crime story set in France. Children of all ages are very welcome and there's no need to book. Find out more at www.patriciajones.co.uk

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Another Series by our leading contributor Nora from Rainy Day Paperback Exchange. If you’ve not already visited her site or shop in Bethel, CT you might want to. It’s a great little bookshop with some pretty funky art.

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So you’ve decided to try out Google AdWords. Setting it up is easy. Actually figuring out how to target the right audience without spending a fortune, that gets tricky.

We’ll assume you’ve gone in and set up your very first ad. Google walks you through it easily enough. (if not, go http://adwords.google.com/ and set up an account and make yourself an ad) Now you’re staring at it going “well… it doesn’t seem to be generating a lot sales and it’s costing a lot of money…”

Duking it out for top position for a common keyword like “books” may have you paying $.25 a click… or more. Plus they may get thousands of clicks a day. That can rack up enormous bills quickly. I once ran up a $150+ bill in a day. Ow, lesson learned. Just because it gets lots of traffic doesn’t necessarily mean lots of sales. The most common keywords will have you duking it out with Amazon or Ebay. They have the money to afford that. Most independent bookstores won’t.

The narrower the keyword you bid on, the fewer searches it will trigger for, but it will also be a lot cheaper and will be more likely to translate to a sale. The trick is in finding the happy medium. Search advertising basically casts a wide net and get some of what you want, but a lot of what you don’t want. Content advertising is much more targeted… but doesn’t work if you’re aiming at the wrong target! Generally you want a mix of both.
Go into AdWords and go to your current campaign. Under the Campaign heading you’ll see the option to edit settings.

Click on that and go to next screen. On right half of screen you’ll see something that says “Networks”.

If Content isn’t checked, check it. This basically means you’ll now show up next to related content, not just in searches. (Look to either side of the article here and you’ll see some content ads.) If you have a really limited budget, uncheck “search” while you’re here. I find content ads generally are more cost effective for me, but your results may be different.

If you’re going to use both, make sure to check the box saying you want to bid separately on the search and content listing. Content ads are generally cheaper, but if you don’t separate the bids, you’ll end up overpaying.

While you’re here, set language to English. Unless you happen to also have your website in another language, there’s no reason to show your ad to Chinese speakers. That wastes money. If you DO present your website in another language, create an ad in that language and then set that campaign to show only that language.

Now, check your location. You can set it to only show it to computers in certain countries. If you only ship to the US and Canada, or only Australia and New Zealand, there’s no reason to show your ad to someone in Russia! You can also select only a specific state or large city if you only want local traffic.

On right side of screen (though I didn’t take a screen shot) you’ll see something that says “budget options”. This is how many dollars per day you’re willing to spend. When it hits that max, it’ll stop showing them for that day. Generally it’s easier to determine how much you want to spend per month. Divide that number by 30 and stick that in as the daily budget. If you’re brave, you can set it way higher than that to account for daily fluctuations, like suddenly a keyword you’re advertising on is mentioned in a major publication. Only do that if you check it everyday, so you don’t get a nasty surprise on your bill!

Save all that and then click on the individual campaign.

You want to click on the default Bid. Set both to a penny to start. Save changes.
If you still have search enabled, you’ll have that big pink warning at the top saying “X keyword are unavailable for search”. You’ll also get next to each keyword a yellow thing saying: “Increase quality or bid Y to activate”.

Now, you can just leave this totally alone and see how it does just running as content, no search. Or you can selective bid to activate some of the Keywords for search, if they’re not too expensive. They will vary widely depending on what keyword you selected. Some might cost only $.04 to activate, some might cost $.40!

Your other option is to “increase the quality”.

Next part in the series, how to increase quality! | Nora’s great post on turning your books into awesome craft projects!
Don’t want to miss the next installment? Simply select one of the options on the top of the blog to get a notification of our updates.

Adwords, Google, Marketing

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