Welcome to the new world of book marketing. It can be a challenge for new publishers. Not only do you have to learn the basics of traditional book marketing you now have to become very tech savvy. No longer can you bury your head in the sand and pretend that the internet doesn't exist. Guess what? The internet is not going away!
It's time to face your fear of things technical, keep up with current events and embrace the advantages of electronic communication. The rapid changes have broad-sided many of us because we just didn't see them coming but here they are. There is no place to hide. :-)
Change is difficult so learn new things in baby steps. Start by signing up for Facebook and play around with it a bit. Find out who you know there and send them greetings. Once you are fairly familiar with Facebook, learn about Twitter. There are excellent books for beginners. Check some books out of your library and follow the basic instructions. There is no need to spend massive amounts of time on social media but do make use of it.
After a while, it's even fun.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
#WriteaBook
So many people want to write a book. So many people can't write.
It is just not enough to "write" a book. An author needs to be a good writer.
If a writer's intention is to sell a book, it is important to make that book the best that it can be. Do people want to spend money on a book that is poorly written? No, of course not.
Poor writing is so misleading. The reader is constantly wondering just what the author meant to say. Poor grammar, poor spelling, poor sentence structure and poor thought organization lead to nonexistent or at best very poor sales. Good writing is crucial to success. Anything less leads to lack of credibility - even if the author has great credentials.
It is amazing how even university graduates, sadly even teachers, have miserable writing skills. I am not a professional editor but I definitely appreciate good writing. So often people send me transcripts of their news releases or their media kits for critique but rather than helping them with creative marketing I spend my time correcting their grammar. I do wonder how they managed to graduate. Are there no requirements for language skills any more? Some of what I read is truly appalling.
Every aspiring author needs to take some basic language arts classes so that he/she can recognize run-on sentences, parallelism, repetitive sentence structure, terrible spelling, poor thought organization and a plethora of other writing basics.
Not every author is a fabulous writer but the basics must be in place. Even the hiring of an editor cannot fix a mess. No contractor can fix a house that has been built of the worse materials; no editor can make a great book out of a jumble of words.
Before you are satisfied with what you have written, learn the basics of language and follow the rules of good grammar. After you have done that, write your book, then rerwrite your book, and then rewrite your book. Have people who have decent writing skills read your manuscript. Make corrections. Now send it to an editor.
You will be amazed at and thrilled with the transformation of your original version.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
It is just not enough to "write" a book. An author needs to be a good writer.
If a writer's intention is to sell a book, it is important to make that book the best that it can be. Do people want to spend money on a book that is poorly written? No, of course not.
Poor writing is so misleading. The reader is constantly wondering just what the author meant to say. Poor grammar, poor spelling, poor sentence structure and poor thought organization lead to nonexistent or at best very poor sales. Good writing is crucial to success. Anything less leads to lack of credibility - even if the author has great credentials.
It is amazing how even university graduates, sadly even teachers, have miserable writing skills. I am not a professional editor but I definitely appreciate good writing. So often people send me transcripts of their news releases or their media kits for critique but rather than helping them with creative marketing I spend my time correcting their grammar. I do wonder how they managed to graduate. Are there no requirements for language skills any more? Some of what I read is truly appalling.
Every aspiring author needs to take some basic language arts classes so that he/she can recognize run-on sentences, parallelism, repetitive sentence structure, terrible spelling, poor thought organization and a plethora of other writing basics.
Not every author is a fabulous writer but the basics must be in place. Even the hiring of an editor cannot fix a mess. No contractor can fix a house that has been built of the worse materials; no editor can make a great book out of a jumble of words.
Before you are satisfied with what you have written, learn the basics of language and follow the rules of good grammar. After you have done that, write your book, then rerwrite your book, and then rewrite your book. Have people who have decent writing skills read your manuscript. Make corrections. Now send it to an editor.
You will be amazed at and thrilled with the transformation of your original version.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
Sunday, April 15, 2012
#ChildrenandBooks
Have you seen the excitement on a child's face when you present her with a new book? Have you felt the joy of reading stories to a small child? Have you experienced the fun of reading a funny story to a grandchild?
Children love books. Many times I have wondered why a grandchild was quiet, went on a search for him or her, and found the little one amid a pile of books on the floor of the playroom. There the tot sat, content and engrossed in a wondrous fantasy world.
This is just a short note, but I want to remind you, if you have not done so lately, read a story to a child. Feel the magic.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
Children love books. Many times I have wondered why a grandchild was quiet, went on a search for him or her, and found the little one amid a pile of books on the floor of the playroom. There the tot sat, content and engrossed in a wondrous fantasy world.
This is just a short note, but I want to remind you, if you have not done so lately, read a story to a child. Feel the magic.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
Thursday, April 12, 2012
#CopyrightIssues
Can I use a photo that I have often seen in the media in my book? Can I use the cover images of popular books in my media kit? Can I quote from other books in my book?
We pride ourselves on offering prompt, friendly, accurate FREE coaching to our clients. No one else does that, at least not that we are aware of. However, authors and publishers frequently ask us about matters which are best directed to legal professionals...
... and that is exactly what we do. There are intellectual property lawyers who can best answer questions of copyright. Before authors create expensive problems for themselves, we direct their questions to the appropriate professionals.
Yes, hiring a legal professional can be somewhat costly, but consider the cost of making a legal mistake that can end your writing or publishing career. A short-sighted decision can have drastic long-term consequences,
There are other resources that can be of assistance in clearing up intellectual property issues. In the United States, there is an organization called the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com/) and in Canada people can check with Access Copyright (http://www.accesscopyright.ca/). In other countries, a call to the government's copyright department will direct you to the resources that you need.
Concerning copyright issues, as with many other issues involved in the business of publishing, it is important to take time to become educated about all aspects of the business before printing books and/or before publishing articles.
It is our mission to help you in all aspects of writing, publishing and marketing your books. When we can answer your questions, we will. When we cannot, we will suggest that you consult with an appropriate professional.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
We pride ourselves on offering prompt, friendly, accurate FREE coaching to our clients. No one else does that, at least not that we are aware of. However, authors and publishers frequently ask us about matters which are best directed to legal professionals...
... and that is exactly what we do. There are intellectual property lawyers who can best answer questions of copyright. Before authors create expensive problems for themselves, we direct their questions to the appropriate professionals.
Yes, hiring a legal professional can be somewhat costly, but consider the cost of making a legal mistake that can end your writing or publishing career. A short-sighted decision can have drastic long-term consequences,
There are other resources that can be of assistance in clearing up intellectual property issues. In the United States, there is an organization called the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com/) and in Canada people can check with Access Copyright (http://www.accesscopyright.ca/). In other countries, a call to the government's copyright department will direct you to the resources that you need.
Concerning copyright issues, as with many other issues involved in the business of publishing, it is important to take time to become educated about all aspects of the business before printing books and/or before publishing articles.
It is our mission to help you in all aspects of writing, publishing and marketing your books. When we can answer your questions, we will. When we cannot, we will suggest that you consult with an appropriate professional.
Denise
www.inktreemarketing.com
www.publishacookbook.com
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
#The New York Times Bestseller List
I was visiting my Mom the other week and the topic came up regarding what the importance of books being “New York Times Bestsellers”. As a regular reader and lover of the New York Times, I wasn’t able to give her any factual background. The topic intrigued me, so I decided to do some homework.
It goes without saying that the New York Times newspaper wields tremendous power and prestige and is considered one of the world’s most respected newspapers since its inception in 1851. In 1896, the paper introduced a Book Review section and the Bestseller List was introduced in 1941 and has been published on a weekly basis ever since. It began as having Fiction and Non-Fiction, but eventually added categories of Advice/How-To, Children’s, and others. Appearance on the Bestseller List is a virtual guarantee of success for most books and increases sales and publicity for the book, the author and the publisher.
Unlike many other bestseller lists, the New York Times list reflects sales in independent and national bookstores that specialize in selling books and disregards all sales from mass-market department stores in their calculation of numbers of books sold. The appearance or lack of appearance on the New York Times list can be misleading as the sales are tracked week by week, so books that sell quickly (due to advance orders, store placement, advertising, publicity, etc.) often rate higher than books that have higher but slower sales over a longer period of time.
In years past, there was some prejudice with bookstores to carry self-published books which made it more difficult for these books to appear on the New York Times Bestseller List and others. This was due, in no small part, to the confusion of self-publishing with vanity publishing, where an author pays an exorbitant fee to publishers to print their work. With the advent of print-on-demand and e-books, self-published authors have the same chance to make the Bestseller List as books published by the major publishing companies. The broad acceptance of electronic and self-published books is evidenced by The New York Times carrying a section in its weekly Bestseller List for both Fiction and Non-Fiction E-Books.
It’s exciting to see that the playing field has been leveled so that the game is fair for all, whether published or self-published authors. Many authors chose to self-publish, not because they had been turned down by publishing companies, but to retain control of their books and make more money. Some of the books and authors that started out self-publishing were: What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles (over 6 million copies sold and spent 288 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List), In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters (over 10 millions copies sold), The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield (over 5 million copies sold), The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (over 12 million copies sold), The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer, The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans, and A Time to Kill by John Grisham.
As inspiring as the success of all of these books is, the most impressive story for me is that of my business partner at Ink Tree Marketing, Denise Hamilton, for the successful publishing, printing and marketing of her book, Fit to Cook, and selling over 250,000 copies through both traditional and non-traditional markets.
Bestsellers are within everyone’s grasp, with books that are well-written, timely, offer something of value to the reader, and are well published, promoted and marketed. Learn from the experiences of others and create the bestseller that lies within you!
Linda L. Matthie
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