Does anyone else ever feel overwhelmed by the massive amount of opportunities there are online for free or cheap marketing? These sites are free in the sense that they don't cost money, but they can zap your time. I believe that many of the social networking sites are useful --when used correctly and for the right reasons. It's just like when every company thought they had to have their product on television to get anyone to notice it. Not true. If you are just jumping on the bandwagon because everyone else seems to be and you don't want to get left in the dust, take a step back and think about whether or not the people you are trying to reach can even be found on a site like Facebook or Twitter. Maybe they are on MySpace -- people have preferences and prejudices regarding these sites.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong advocate for online networking, but it seems like everyone is everywhere, with no real strategy. Maybe you're trying to get the attention of the 20-something crowd to come into your new salon -- Google AdWords might be the best. Or maybe you should be going with an old-school newsletter -- on actual "paper" if you want to tell local businesses about a sale you're having at the end of the week or a new service you're offering. Figure out where your time and money is best spent, and go from there.
Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Self Publishing Resources -- From Those Who Practice What They Preach
Purchase and READ these books while you are writing yours:
John Kremer – 1001 Ways to Market Your Books
Dan Poynter – The Self Publishing Manual
Judith Applebaum – How to Get Happily Published
Brian Jud – Beyond the Bookstore
Susan Friedman – Riches in Niches
If you are using a “Self Publishing” or “Print on Demand” company such as Author Solutions, LuLu, BookHouse, or any number of others, purchase this book:
Mark Levine – The Fine Print of Self Publishing for an unbiased comparison of all of these companies and how to choose one.
John Kremer – 1001 Ways to Market Your Books
Dan Poynter – The Self Publishing Manual
Judith Applebaum – How to Get Happily Published
Brian Jud – Beyond the Bookstore
Susan Friedman – Riches in Niches
If you are using a “Self Publishing” or “Print on Demand” company such as Author Solutions, LuLu, BookHouse, or any number of others, purchase this book:
Mark Levine – The Fine Print of Self Publishing for an unbiased comparison of all of these companies and how to choose one.
Monday, May 4, 2009
One Small Step for Self Publishers, One Giant Step for the Industry
Readers are not biased against self published books just because they are self published, but most will be turned off if your book looks amateurish. Self published books have had their ups and downs as far as consumer perception. Most of this is due to some authors not paying attention to details such as editing, design, and quality printing. The entire industry hinges on all books that are self published being of a quality that consumers will value so as not to diminish the entire lot.
How do you help the entire industry enhance their image?
- Write a good book (well researched and relevant -- and do you have credentials?)
- Hire a qualified editor and/or indexer (not your mom)
- Hire a trained and talented book designer (not your cousin Vinny)
- Make sure your book meets with publishing standards (ISBN, Library of Congress, etc.)
You will look more credible, and your book will, too. But you'll also be helping everyone else in the independent and self publishing industry. We all need that!
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
How do you help the entire industry enhance their image?
- Write a good book (well researched and relevant -- and do you have credentials?)
- Hire a qualified editor and/or indexer (not your mom)
- Hire a trained and talented book designer (not your cousin Vinny)
- Make sure your book meets with publishing standards (ISBN, Library of Congress, etc.)
You will look more credible, and your book will, too. But you'll also be helping everyone else in the independent and self publishing industry. We all need that!
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Your Title Can “Sizzle,” But Your Subtitle has to be the “Steak.”
Don’t expect would-be book buyers to understand what your book is about if you don’t tell them. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is very bad advice for publishers, because something has to compel buyers to pick it up.
Design isn’t the only thing that makes a great cover; you have to have a great title too. An appropriate title. A unique title. Take your working titles, pick up the phone and call your voice mail. Say a few sentences about your book and then listen to your voicemail as if you were listening to a radio program. We often see people who can’t even remember their own book title because it’s a play on words, or is difficult to say, or is impossible to decipher over the airwaves. Does your title contain an acronym? Make sure the letters don’t rhyme with other letters that are close and might make another word when put together. Why? When you have taken the time and money to publish your book, people have to be able to find it! If they can’t understand you or they misunderstand you, you lost your precious marketing dollars.
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Design isn’t the only thing that makes a great cover; you have to have a great title too. An appropriate title. A unique title. Take your working titles, pick up the phone and call your voice mail. Say a few sentences about your book and then listen to your voicemail as if you were listening to a radio program. We often see people who can’t even remember their own book title because it’s a play on words, or is difficult to say, or is impossible to decipher over the airwaves. Does your title contain an acronym? Make sure the letters don’t rhyme with other letters that are close and might make another word when put together. Why? When you have taken the time and money to publish your book, people have to be able to find it! If they can’t understand you or they misunderstand you, you lost your precious marketing dollars.
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Monday, April 27, 2009
"Put Your John Hancock Right Here"
When entering the vast world of publishing, know what you are getting into and don’t sign anything you don’t understand. Every week, we see eager authors who have signed contracts they didn’t really understand (sometimes with their attorneys who didn’t understand the terminology either). In particular, they get hooked up with agents who are not legitimately trying to place their book) or "self publishing" companies whose contracts are very confusing. So before you send anything to any publisher, editor, or book or literary agent, Google the name or visit a site called Preditors [sic] and Editors (www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubabout.htm). Find out what others say about them first and make sure they are who they say they are.
Remember one thing: With the print on demand/subsidy/vanity houses, their contracts say you retain the rights to your work. However, that doesn’t mean you own anything they have done with it—for example, you do not own the book they produced from your manuscript. Know what the terms mean, or ask a professional before you sign.
Don't pull a Sally Field at the first person who says they will publish your book ("They like me, they really, really like me!"). Know what you are signing. Know what kind of company you are dealing with. Understand their business before you give up any of your rights.
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Remember one thing: With the print on demand/subsidy/vanity houses, their contracts say you retain the rights to your work. However, that doesn’t mean you own anything they have done with it—for example, you do not own the book they produced from your manuscript. Know what the terms mean, or ask a professional before you sign.
Don't pull a Sally Field at the first person who says they will publish your book ("They like me, they really, really like me!"). Know what you are signing. Know what kind of company you are dealing with. Understand their business before you give up any of your rights.
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Link Baiting -- We've Been Hooked!
As you’re aware, we’ve recently jumped head-first into the world of online networking, and we are seeing vast benefits from it already in the first few weeks. The number of unique visitors to our site has way more than doubled daily, as well as the reach of our message. According to Alexa.com, the number of visitors our site receives has gone up 400% since March 31 of this year. We attribute this jump in visitors to our presence on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as Google AdWords, and our own blog. We’ve been able to spread our message further, and we would like to help our clients do the same.
With that in mind, here’s another great way to drive traffic to your website: "link baiting." The strength of the links you have connected to your site will determine how high Google’s search engine algorithm will rank it. Your rank is also determined by the number of visitors your site receives, and the way the site is designed and written.
Link baiting is not a quick process – it involves things such as getting businesses and organizations to put a link on their site for you, without necessarily returning the favor. It takes time for the search engines to crawl through websites and register the new links. In the long term, however, the benefits will float to the surface, and we know your page ranking will as well.
Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
With that in mind, here’s another great way to drive traffic to your website: "link baiting." The strength of the links you have connected to your site will determine how high Google’s search engine algorithm will rank it. Your rank is also determined by the number of visitors your site receives, and the way the site is designed and written.
Link baiting is not a quick process – it involves things such as getting businesses and organizations to put a link on their site for you, without necessarily returning the favor. It takes time for the search engines to crawl through websites and register the new links. In the long term, however, the benefits will float to the surface, and we know your page ranking will as well.
Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Monday, April 20, 2009
We're Thinking of Starting Our Own Writer's Strike...
To begin my rant... last week I was in a music CD store where they sell used CDs. The clerk told me that they pay a royalty to the artist for the secondary market merchandise. Finding this unbelievable, I called around to other second hand intellectual property merchants and I couldn't find another one who does this. I even doubt that the first one was telling the truth, but who knows.
Actors, as well as the writers who write for them, get royalties every time their ad is shown, or their tv program is broadcast, or their video is sold...this may bring to mind the writer's strike of 2007-2008, in which the Writer's Guild of America went on strike against major production companies to demand an increase in royalties from DVD and online downloads. Eventually they came to an agreement siding with the writers.
With this in mind, why doesn't an author get a portion of their secondary sales? Why does the bookstore get rewarded with a full refund for damaged, mistreated, mispackaged, over-ordered books?
Bookstores "display" rather than "stock" books in their stores (on consignment); thus meaning bookstores are allowed to make irresponsible buys or damage the merchandise with no repercussions (they can return overstock for full credit virtually forever). Bookstores get the largest percentage of the final take on a book sale no matter how it is published (traditional versus independent) -- 40% of the retail price. If they paid for merchandise they damaged, it wouldn't be so bad, but they don't.
And these bookstores that take trade-ins or buy backs -- wouldn't you think that on the second hand books they take in, (which I BET they return to publishers as damages on occasion), they would need to pay a royalty?
It's tough enough to be a small publisher, with all of that, but then have to deal with the wholesalers that require publishers to have an open return policy no matter who damages the books or how many they over-order.(Wholesaler takes 55% [and publisher pays shipping], wholesaler then sells to a bookstore at a 40% discount.) If you do the math here, you'll easily see that the big loser is the one who spent a large part of their life writing the property that is being juggled among the profit takers.
If the printed book is to survive, it should be a booklover's mission to make sure that the publishers and authors who create the masterpieces get paid their fair share -- just like actors do when some broadcast medium shows a movie or tv program (or ad) that includes them in it or a musician when they play a song on the radio.
Publishers and authors who foot the real bills in publishing could use some industry changes. Sooner rather than later.
End of rant, but frustration continues...
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Actors, as well as the writers who write for them, get royalties every time their ad is shown, or their tv program is broadcast, or their video is sold...this may bring to mind the writer's strike of 2007-2008, in which the Writer's Guild of America went on strike against major production companies to demand an increase in royalties from DVD and online downloads. Eventually they came to an agreement siding with the writers.
With this in mind, why doesn't an author get a portion of their secondary sales? Why does the bookstore get rewarded with a full refund for damaged, mistreated, mispackaged, over-ordered books?
Bookstores "display" rather than "stock" books in their stores (on consignment); thus meaning bookstores are allowed to make irresponsible buys or damage the merchandise with no repercussions (they can return overstock for full credit virtually forever). Bookstores get the largest percentage of the final take on a book sale no matter how it is published (traditional versus independent) -- 40% of the retail price. If they paid for merchandise they damaged, it wouldn't be so bad, but they don't.
And these bookstores that take trade-ins or buy backs -- wouldn't you think that on the second hand books they take in, (which I BET they return to publishers as damages on occasion), they would need to pay a royalty?
It's tough enough to be a small publisher, with all of that, but then have to deal with the wholesalers that require publishers to have an open return policy no matter who damages the books or how many they over-order.(Wholesaler takes 55% [and publisher pays shipping], wholesaler then sells to a bookstore at a 40% discount.) If you do the math here, you'll easily see that the big loser is the one who spent a large part of their life writing the property that is being juggled among the profit takers.
If the printed book is to survive, it should be a booklover's mission to make sure that the publishers and authors who create the masterpieces get paid their fair share -- just like actors do when some broadcast medium shows a movie or tv program (or ad) that includes them in it or a musician when they play a song on the radio.
Publishers and authors who foot the real bills in publishing could use some industry changes. Sooner rather than later.
End of rant, but frustration continues...
Lisa Pelto, President
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)