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Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Friday Speak Out, Aggie Villanueva, Amazon, book marketing, book promotion tips, Add a tag
By: MP,
on 8/3/2012
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Chynna Laird's books, Chynna Laird's YA books, Cheryl Tardif, book marketing, author marketing, book promotion tips, Add a tag
By: Chynna,
on 7/14/2012
I mean, sure. I post about my works on my Facebook page or Twitter but I guess that doesn't really count as full-out marketing. And I didn't realize the importance of understanding it until I started promoting my new fiction title, DARK WATER (officially released tomorrow on Kindle). When I shared some information about the book, one of my strong supporters of my nonfiction work said, "I didn't know you write fiction!"
I was seriously taken aback at first. This is my third fiction book and this wonderful girl, who has read and helped spread the word about my two memoirs, had no idea I'd even published the first two books. Then I realized that, perhaps, I may not have been doing a good enough job making sure people found them. No wonder sales for those books haven't been great. ::slap forehead::
Of course, it shouldn't be so surprising. Yes, my books are all listed on my author blog. Yes, if readers clicked on my name on Amazon they'd be taken to the other books I've written but that doesn't always happen, right? So, here are a few things I figured out:
~ Connect with other authors out there who are making it with marketing. Watch what they're doing. Learn from them. Take notes.
~ Do for others and they will do for you. You know all of those writing groups you've joined? Don't just go visit them when you have a project to promote. Go in a few times a week to connect with your fellow writers. Help them spread the word on what they're doing. Give kudos and support. Interacting is a big part of marketing because what goes around comes around.
~ Remember that marketing isn't bombarding or spamming. It's giving information about you and your work and knowing when, where and how to give it.
~ Create a buzz and keep it going. My marketing mentor, Cheryl Tardif, told me that you generate excitement for your projects by being excited about it yourself. Share in bits and pieces to get some initial interest, then keep sharing to maintain it.
~ Teasing is a good thing. Another awesome tip from Cheryl. This is how you maintain that buzz. When you share a tidbit, invite people to come back for more and make it even more interesting.
~ Use a new work to create new buzz for your older projects. There are several ways to do this. You could arrange a virtual book tour for the new book, using the other books as prizes. Talk about the other works in interviews. Do character interviews and have the new characters talk about characters from your older books. Use your imagination!
~ It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. This is a direct quote from Cheryl, and I just love it. What she means is that you don't just go full out for the pre-promotion then fizzle out. It means that marketing is a long-haul thing and you should be putting time in each day to keep your work out there. Put the same effort in after release day as you did before.
~ Don't be afraid to take risks. Try new
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Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Friday Speak Out, Aggie Villanueva, Amazon, book marketing, book promotion tips, Add a tag
4 Things Authors Need to Know About Amazon
by Aggie Villanueva
Many of us have had books for sale for years at Amazon.com. Many excitedly await their first book going live. Whichever your situation, there are just as many of us who unfortunately use Amazon as simply the world’s largest bookstore listing. What’s wrong with that, you may wonder? After all, Amazon is the world’s largest bookstore.
Vikram Narayan, CEO of BookBuzzr.com, said of my book which teaches the principles presented in this article, “…Aggie Villanueva’s how-to changes your perspective of Amazon from that of an online book store to that of an author publicity machine."
In that spirit, here is my list of three things authors need to understand before selling their books at Amazon.com, and to change our “perspective of Amazon.”
1. Amazon.com is Much More Than the World’s Largest Bookseller
If treated as a simple bookstore you’ll never garner the vast benefits of selling books there. They have created an ingenious marketing engine that drills through several layers of free and automated publicity, each layer completely unique and reaching millions of readers.
And like them or not, Amazon makes bestsellers out of more writers than anywhere. So why not make use of them? If you don’t utilize their system then they are indeed just the world’s largest bookseller. What a waste if all they do for your book is list it. Let me show you the basics of how Amazon can use categories to sell more of your books.
2 Comments on Friday Speak Out!: 4 Things Authors Need to Know About Amazon, guest post by Aggie Villanueva, last added: 8/5/2012
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Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Chynna Laird's books, Chynna Laird's YA books, Cheryl Tardif, book marketing, author marketing, book promotion tips, Add a tag
I realized something very important this week. Just because I have a few books out there doesn't mean readers are finding them. Why? Because I haven't been doing my job at letting them know they're out there.
I mean, sure. I post about my works on my Facebook page or Twitter but I guess that doesn't really count as full-out marketing. And I didn't realize the importance of understanding it until I started promoting my new fiction title, DARK WATER (officially released tomorrow on Kindle). When I shared some information about the book, one of my strong supporters of my nonfiction work said, "I didn't know you write fiction!"
I was seriously taken aback at first. This is my third fiction book and this wonderful girl, who has read and helped spread the word about my two memoirs, had no idea I'd even published the first two books. Then I realized that, perhaps, I may not have been doing a good enough job making sure people found them. No wonder sales for those books haven't been great. ::slap forehead::
Of course, it shouldn't be so surprising. Yes, my books are all listed on my author blog. Yes, if readers clicked on my name on Amazon they'd be taken to the other books I've written but that doesn't always happen, right? So, here are a few things I figured out:
~ Connect with other authors out there who are making it with marketing. Watch what they're doing. Learn from them. Take notes.
~ Do for others and they will do for you. You know all of those writing groups you've joined? Don't just go visit them when you have a project to promote. Go in a few times a week to connect with your fellow writers. Help them spread the word on what they're doing. Give kudos and support. Interacting is a big part of marketing because what goes around comes around.
~ Remember that marketing isn't bombarding or spamming. It's giving information about you and your work and knowing when, where and how to give it.
~ Create a buzz and keep it going. My marketing mentor, Cheryl Tardif, told me that you generate excitement for your projects by being excited about it yourself. Share in bits and pieces to get some initial interest, then keep sharing to maintain it.
~ Teasing is a good thing. Another awesome tip from Cheryl. This is how you maintain that buzz. When you share a tidbit, invite people to come back for more and make it even more interesting.
~ Use a new work to create new buzz for your older projects. There are several ways to do this. You could arrange a virtual book tour for the new book, using the other books as prizes. Talk about the other works in interviews. Do character interviews and have the new characters talk about characters from your older books. Use your imagination!
~ It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. This is a direct quote from Cheryl, and I just love it. What she means is that you don't just go full out for the pre-promotion then fizzle out. It means that marketing is a long-haul thing and you should be putting time in each day to keep your work out there. Put the same effort in after release day as you did before.
~ Don't be afraid to take risks. Try new
2 Comments on What I'm Learning About the "M" Word ~ Marketing, last added: 7/14/2012
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Great article. I've numerous books listed on Amazon in various genres (including fiction and non-fiction) as well as in both traditional and ebook format and whilst the categories work fairly well for me, I can't help thinking that I could be doing better with at least three of my 14 titles.
Sadly, this wasn't my mistake but my original publishers and I'd be keen to know if there's a way of changing their category after a period of time.
If only to give them a fresh shot at a potentially new audience.
Thanks for the advice about Amazon and how authors can benefit.