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BookPromo Guerrilla Style Ezine "The Ezine for Successful Book Promotions" Past Issues Archives: http://archives.zinester.com/11698 Year 2 Issue 8 November 15, 2007 http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com *************************************************** On this issue: *************************************************** 1- From My Desk 2- Self Publish or Perish - The New Age of Book Writing 3- Useful Resources 4- Increase Book Exposure Through Author Speaking Engagements 5- How to Host a Writing or Publishing Event 6- Letters to the Editor 7- Articles Submission *************************************************** From My Desk *************************************************** Welcome to another issue of BookPromo On this issue we included some great articles about writing, publishing, speaking and event planning. Learning to promote your work takes the same creativity it takes to write your books. The more ideas you implement the better off you will be at the end. Enjoy your new issue and feel free to forward it to friends and associates. Helping, informing and empowering authors. Clary Lopez Editor-in-Chief BookPromo Guerrilla Style Ezine Guerrilla Marketers' Caf? http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com Blog http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com/blog/ You can contact us at: editor@clarylopez.com Subject: eZine *************************************************** Self Publish or Perish - The New Age of Book Writing *************************************************** By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Corey_Blake]Corey Blake In this new age of the Internet, information is everywhere and people are hungry to find it. If they have a question about ANYTHING in life, they are apt to jump online, go to a search engine and trust whatever they find. So how do you compete among trillions of pages of Internet content? The answer is simple: you write a book (or hire a ghostwriter to do it for you!). In doing so, write a book with the intention of publishing it with a commercial publisher. This attitude will elevate your standards and create a high platform on which to perch. Quality is king. This book will speak for you forever; it will either speak poorly for you, or it will dynamically change lives. That being said, don't let the traditional publishing industry push you around and force you to wait. People are relying on your information. If you invest in writing an exceptional book, you deserve to reap the rewards more quickly than traditional publishing allows (their process is as long as a year or more to get your book into bookstores), so partner your desire to create something outstanding with your ability to self publish and get your book out there into the hands of the people who need it most! In life and in business, there are few things that bring the respect, the admiration, the financial reward, and the emotional gratification that writing a book does. The media will refer to you as an expert, your customers will look at you with newfound respect, and, most importantly, you'll look at yourself differently, with so much more confidence and a crystallized understanding of what you offer your customers! Remember when I said the answer was simple? Well, it was, but implementing it will require a bit more work. You need to take your expertise and create a unique, even remarkable delivery system for it. You and/or your ghostwriter are going to write a book, but not just any book; it will be YOUR book! This is an endeavor that should take no less than six months to write, writing at least an hour a day, every day. It could possibly take as long as a year or more (and that doesn't mean three months on and six months off!) to write a great book. Writing an exceptional manuscript worthy of worldwide distribution is a creative process that requires tremendous focus and the dedication of a brilliant team of people: ghostwriter, focus group participants, professional analysts, structure professionals, proofreaders, formatters, and more! Now what is most important? Starting to write a book today, because time is of the essence! Consider this: in a world of instant gratification, the publishing industry has not yet caught up to our need for speed. Commercial publishers still take 9 to 18 months to get a book from manuscript to the bookstores, which comes after contract negotiations (two to three months) and finding the right agent and publisher (probably six months to a year). Who has this kind of patience anymore? This is where self publishing comes in! Mind you, my recommendation is to still go through the process of creating something truly remarkable, investing your time and your money to write a book or hire a ghostwriter to write a book worthy of commercial publication, but do NOT let the slow speed of commercial publishing deter you from getting your message out quicker. Self Publish! Hire your ghostwriter to write a book and then while you are submitting to agents and publishers, self publish it through one of the many vanity presses available. In addition to your time, this alternative will require investing a bit of capital, probably around $5,000 to $7,500 for 2,000 copies of your book, including the price to format it, acquire your ISBN number and get it listed on Amazon. But realize this: when you write a book and then you self publish, you make so much more of the money. When you sell those 2,000 books, your income can be anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000, versus a much smaller royalty from a traditional publisher. So write a book worthy of commercial publishing, and then self publish to test the content, and build up a stockpile of cash that you can use to market and publicize the book when it hits the bookstores. Heck, if you can sell 30,000 units on your own, a commercial publisher will pick you up based on that alone! You must be strategic in this day and age to survive! Think about what you are doing today and what you'll need tomorrow. Today you need to start writing (or find your ghostwriter), so you can self publish tomorrow, and commercially publish down the road. Without the writing, there is neither the self publishing opportunity nor the commercial publishing chance. So start your writing, or hire your ghostwriter immediately (check out my article: 10 Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Ghostwriter)! Corey Blake the co-author of EDGE! A Leadership Story (Morgan James, 2008), is President of Writers of the Round Table, Inc., a strategic literary development company that assists authors, directors, executives, and publishers to generate writing content of substantial quality and bring it to market. Visit us at [http://www.writersoftheroundtable.com/business/articles.cfm?id=1]Writers of the Round Table to learn more about hiring a ghostwriter and publishing YOUR book! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Corey_Blake http://EzineArticles.com/?Self-Publish-or-Perish---The-New-Age-of-Book-Writing&id=831102 *************************************************** Uselful Resources *************************************************** Bookhomestead.com – Book Lovers Community. Have your book reviewed by readers http://bookhomestead.com Resources for Writers at Guerrilla Marketer’s Caf? http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com/tactics.html Odeo.com - Add Audio to your Website CreateSpace – Create and Sell Books, Music and Video http://www.createspace.com/Index.jsp Lulu.com – Self-Publish your book, ebook, CD, Video, Picture Book, Calendar and more the easy way http://www.lulu.com Picasa – Great photo sharing site to integrate in sites and blogs. http://picasa.google.com/ ************************************************** Increase Book Exposure Through Author Speaking Engagements ************************************************** By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Bolme]Sarah Bolme One surefire way to spread the word about a book is for the author to embark on a public speaking campaign. Authors who pursue speaking engagements gain more attention for their books. Some authors have single-handedly propelled their books to bestseller status through traveling and speaking nationwide on a continual basis. Even if an author does not have the ability to travel and speak extensively due to other life commitments, don't overlook this important aspect of book marketing. Authors willing to do even a few speaking engagements will develop a loyal reader base and increase their books' sales. Getting Started A good place for authors to start speaking on their book's topic is through local bookstores and libraries. Many bookstores (especially Borders and Barnes & Noble) will host short seminars by authors for their patrons. Libraries do this also. Authors who take advantage of these opportunities can sell autographed copies of their books after these events and boost their sales. Non-fiction authors usually have a built-in topic for speaking. However, fiction and children's book authors can create opportunities for speaking. For example, children's book authors can volunteer to read their children's book at a bookstore or library during National Literacy Month (September). An author of a young adult fiction title can volunteer to lead a short seminar for teens on fiction writing at a local library. Authors of mystery novels can take advantage of Barnes & Nobles' October Mystery Month. These ideas are just a few of the many opportunities that can be created for authors to schedule speaking engagements to promote their books. While developing a public speaking business takes time, speaking publicly can pay off for those authors who undertake this aspect of their book marketing campaign. Initially, authors generally will need to speak for free and use each speaking engagement to sell books. However, once a speaking business is established, authors can begin to charge for their speaking services. If an author has no previous speaking experience or is fearful of the idea of speaking in front of a group of people, consider getting some training in public speaking through reading books on speaking or taking classes. One good place to gain know-how and confidence in public speaking is through joining a local Toastmasters club (www.toastmasters.org). Securing Speaking Engagements Speaking engagements must be cultivated and pursued. Opportunities only drop into the laps of those authors who have built the speaking side of their profession over time. Most new speakers will have to spend time cultivating speaking engagements. All sorts of events feature authors as speakers. Authors can seek out speaking engagements through identifying specific events and groups geared toward their book's target audience as potential speaking venues. For example, a book on healthy dating habits for teens could lead to speaking engagements at middle- and high-schools as well as community and church youth groups. When an event or group has been identified as a potential speaking venue, the next step is for the author to contact the group's organizers and present an author bio and speaking topic with synopsis for consideration. Summary How many books can you sell through speaking engagements? The number all depends on the event, the speaker, and the audience. Whether the book sales total three or three hundred, remember that each speaking engagement is exposure. And exposure builds on itself to produce future book sales. Sarah Bolme, is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace ( http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com) and the director of Christian Small Publishers Association ( http://www.christianpublishers.net). ©2007 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Bolme http://EzineArticles.com/?Increase-Book-Exposure-Through-Author-Speaking-Engagements&id=826174 ************************************************** Visit our Blogs: Guerrilla Insight for Authors http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com/blog The Book's Den http://booksden.wordpress.com ************************************************** How to Host a Writing or Publishing Event ************************************************** By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Gayle_Trent]Gayle Trent Your first question might be: Why should I host a writing/publishing event? The answers are as varied as there are writers. You might be launching a new book and want the publicity such an event would bring. You might be interested in networking with other writers, publishers, editors and readers. You might be a masochist! :-) But enough "why's." Let's move on to the "how's." O GAUGE INTEREST Find out if there's 1) enough interest in your community and 2) enough interest among fellow writers to make the event worth your while. When I hosted the Southern Publishers and Writers Expo, I knew there was interest in our community and my timing was excellent (more about that below). To gauge interest from fellow writers, I simply posted messages to various e-lists to which I belong and asked. Thus, I learned that there is indeed enough interest to ensure that I won't be the only writer there. O TIMING Each year, the Virginia Highlands Festival brings thousands of visitors to Abingdon, Virginia. The festival is a two-week long event, and there are usually literary events during the second week. The Southern Publishers & Writers Expo took place on Friday, August 12, the last Friday of the Virginia Highlands Festival. Although we aren't affiliated with the festival, we benefited from the tourists and locals who are drawn to it. Plus, the expo will take place in the Martha Washington Inn which is located in heart of festival events. Is there an event in your area you might be able to use for a "piggyback ride"? If so, see if you can make your event an extension of the existing event. If the chairpersons of the existing event nix your idea, you can still have your own event nearby and benefit secondhand from the publicity and crowds drawn by the existing event. O EXPENSES Know ahead of time how much you can afford to spend. I was on a tight budget, so I had to take into consideration how much I could afford to spend regardless of whether or not I had enough vendor interest to counter some of the expenses. Also, you don't want any costs cropping up that you didn't anticipate. For example, my room rental increased $100 because the vendors will need display tables. Ask lots of questions. My friend Tammy mentioned that some meeting rooms charge a set-up fee. I was unaware of that so I asked about a set-up fee and was told that it was included in the room rental. Don't be afraid to look dumb; be afraid of getting stuck with an outrageous bill you weren't expecting. O PLANNING Plan well enough ahead of time to ensure that you will get the space you desire, that people interested in participating won't have already planned to be elsewhere, and that you have time to recruit both vendors and attendees. O MINIMIZE YOUR LIABILITIES My husband, who is often more business-minded than I am, reminded me that I'd better check into whether or not we'd need a business license for the expo. Turned out, we did. As the sponsor for the event, I was responsible for obtaining a retail license that would cover all vendors. Check into all the legalities: licensing, Fire Marshall's codes, etc. O STRIVE FOR UNIQUENESS For the Southern Publishers & Writers Expo, vendors paid a small fee to participate. Attendees paid nothing. Unlike other writing conferences, attendees will be invited to attend our workshops, seminars and panels free of charge. These workshops, seminars and panels will take place during the morning. In the afternoon, readings and nonfiction seminars will take place, and these, too, will be free to the public. My theory was that if you freely share your expertise, people will respond by buying your books. That wasn't necessarily the case. Although our event went fairly well, if you are holding workshops and seminars where writers will be given a lot of helpful information, I suggest you charge attendees a small fee. In addition, think about how you can make your event stand out from the crowd. As always, I hope this information helps! Gayle Trent is a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. Visit her site at http://www.gayletrent.com If you're interested in becoming a writer yourself, visit http://gayle24202.tripod.com/teleseminarsandclasses/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gayle_Trent http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Host-a-Writing-or-Publishing-Event&id=831260 **************************************************** Letter to the Editor *************************************************** Let us know how we are doing and what you would like to read about, so send us your comments and suggestions to be included on this section. editor@clarylopez.com Subject: Letter to the Editor Do you have an idea for a topic on this eZine? Send it to editor@clarylopez.com Subject: Ezine idea *************************************************** Articles Submission *************************************************** If you would like to write an article for this Ezine please send your request to: editor@clarylopez.com Subject: Article Submission *************************************************** BookPromo Guerrilla Style Ezine Copyright 2006, 2007 Clary Lopez All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Clary Lopez will not be held liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages originating from the use of any information listed on our website, newsletters or eZine. By using this site and ezine you agree to indemnify and hold all owners and representatives parties of Clary Lopez/Guerrilla Marketers' Cafe harmless from any claim or demand originating out of your use of Clary Lopez/Guerrilla Marketers' Cafe website and/ newsletters or eZine. Use of our website, Newsletter and eZine is and indication of your complete understanding and acceptance of these Terms of Service. Articles can be reproduced on websites or ezines as long as the article and bylines are included without any alterations. No part of the website can't be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage or retrieval systems without the written permission from the publisher/owner. |
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November29, 2007 - Your BookPromo Ezine >> |
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