The Clean and Green Club

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month

With a book about traveling around Mexico in an old VW van, Rich Ligato’s choices of venues may be different from yours. But whatever kind of book you sell, there will be perfect places to sell it–places that have nothing to do with bookstores or websites. Use your creativity, and some of Rich’s techniques.

For lots more creative book marketing ideas, I recommend my own Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers–click here to learn about it.

–Shel Horowitz

Guest Tip By Rich Ligato

We have had the greatest success at unusual events. Our book is a
travel narrative about our three year journey in a VW campervan and
we’ve sold at…

Grape Stomp / Wine Tasting: One weekend, we set up at a the
Julian Grape Stomp and sold 20 books. Drunk people make great customers.

Art Nights: Here in San Diego we have two different “Art Walks” where
local galleries serve finger food and wine to attract buyers. We
simply set up a table next to our van and sold 25 books. The art was
so expensive yet everyone wanted to go home with something.

Farmers Markets: Our local farmers markets charge $20-25. We always
sell between 15-20 books. We secured local radio, tv, newspaper and
magazine interviews at our farmers market. The farmers markets
offer the perfect opportunity to practice sound bites. When the
interviewers asked questions we were practiced and ready with a short,
interesting, funny answer.

Car Shows: Our local car show allows anyone to set up and show off
their car for free. Nobody seemed to mind that we were selling books too.

Travel Club Meeting: We set up at the Discover Baja Travel Club and
sold a bunch of books.

The best thing about these venues is that we get to keep the entire
purchase price. At bookstores signings you generally have to give
them 40-50%. The most important thing is that you put yourself out
there. At first it is uncomfortable. Before you know it…it will be
fun.

Oh, and we always ask the buyer if they would like us to sign their
copy. It’s amazing how the simple act of signing a book causes others
to think “I’ve got to get one too.” We will go for an hour without
selling a book then suddenly someone will purchase one, we’ll make a
big deal of signing it, and the frenzy is on. We’ll sell a pile in 10
minutes.

Rich Ligato
www.vwvagabonds.com

Mark Joyner’s Best-Seller Contest

Coming to you early this month so you have time to enter Mark Joyner of Simpleology’s be-the-next-bestselling author contest. (He’s been a #1 best selling author at least three times, including not only Amazon but the New York Times and Wall Street Journal lists.) All you have to do is submit a quick little video, by February 26. He’s got quite a package for the person who wins. First, go and read Mark’s new (no-cost) e-book, “The Rise of the Author”–any trend-watcher will benefit from reading this, as it puts a context around many of the changes in publishing over the last couple of decades. Then submit your video (click on :”contest”). If you’re serious about reaching the next level, attend Joyner’s Bestseller Prep School telephone call on February 26.

On to this month’s tip: a no-lose way to get your book to everyone attending your speech

We all know that speaking is a great way to sell books–but that means you’ve got two sales to make: on to the meeting planner, and then again to the members of your audience.

I’ve experimented with some different options on the second sale. I’ve had a meeting planner buy enough copies to give a book to everyone, and another who bought a few cases to use as early-registration bonuses.

But speaker James Malinchak has an even better idea, if you can get into the planning early enough (before the attendance fee is set). This is so cool–he tells meeting planners, “how’d you like to provide every attender with a copy of my book, without paying anything extra?” Of course, the meeting planner is going to say yes–it’s a no-brainer, after all. Then Malinchak tells the planner to simply add the buy-in-bulk discounted cost of the book (including shipping) to the seminar fee! The event planner can even offer autographed copies.

Brilliant. It’s no big deal to go from, say, $79 to $85, considerable extra money in the author’s pocket, considerable added value for the meeting planner and attenders.

As I write this at the end of January, you might be thinking about Valentine’s Day. And daily newspaper journalists, TV and radio broadcasters, and Internet media are also thinking about Valentine’s stories.

But…at a large monthly magazine, the assignment editor is already thinking about events way in the future: summer vacation stories, back to school, or even Halloween! If you pitch a story a month or two ahead to one of these publications, they’ll just laugh as they hit the delete button. They work six to eight months ahead.

And that means when you pitch these publications, you’ve got to be working seven to nine months out–and then come back to similar pitches for weekly newspapers and magazines perhaps one month to six weeks ahead, and then the short-deadline media outlets maybe two or three weeks ahead, sometimes even less.

It’s a schizophrenic existence, but it means more media coverage for you.

Bonus tips: 1. Your book (nonfiction as well as fiction) may be of seasonal interest even if it doesn’t mention the specific holiday. Any love story has a Valentine tie-in, any that takes place in the summer could be tied to summer stories–as could a book about treating sports injuries.

2. Having trouble finding those tie-ins? Use the same resources that media do: Chase’s Calendar of Events and Celebrate Today

I’ve decided to stay with last month’s theme of email conversations for a couple of more issues. Long-time readers will know that I’m very big on building relationships–before you need them–with people who can help you.

Here’s an example of how I turned my negative reaction to an article in a very prominent Internet marketing newsletter (circulation 40,000 or so) into a bylined article in that newsletter. Read the rest of this entry »

Shel Horowitz’s Monthly Frugal Marketing Tip: December 2007

Shel Horowitz’s Monthly Book Marketing Tip: November 2007

[Note to Frugal Marketing readers: I believe the points in my last Book Marketing column are very relevant to marketing in general, even though some of what I cited is industry-specific. If you subscribe to both newsletters, you may have read this article ten days ago, though I’ve modified it slightly and added a third point.]

I was just beginning to think about what I’d write in today’s issue when an email arrived with a rambling, incoherent book proposal for a genre I don’t publish in. It is clearly being sent to every publisher this author could find, although at least this person had the sense to send individually addressed e-mails one at a time.

It’s not a coincidence that this showed up just as I was contemplating my monthly message. So, rather than hitting the delete key, I actually answered–and I’ll share my answer with you.

There are three marketing points I want to make with this letter:

1: In any business communication–a book proposal, a joint venture proposal, a salesletter, even a press release–understand who is reading it and focus on what your audience has to gain from your idea

2. Do your research, so that *you* understand the other party’s interests and markets.

3. If someone who doesn’t understand the above approaches you inappropriately, think about how you can respond in a way that draws that person’s attention to how you can solve that person’s problem or satisfies his or her desires in a way that benefits you as well–just as I turned the conversation to why this author needs my book. Ultimately, marketing is always about a conversation.

And now, on to my response.

Dear (author’s name):

Thank you for your proposal. It isn’t going to work for us, and I wanted to explain why. This is going to sound harsh–but you will be wondering why your proposal isn’t even being answered–and I’m going to tell you, because I believe you have a right to know, and that once you understand, you’ll be in a better position to do it differently, and perhaps eventually find the publisher you seek. I am guessing my response will be the only answer you get other than a form note saying thank you, not interested.

1. If you want to be taken seriously in the publishing world, you need to do your research. You would see that my firm doesn’t publish books like this, and in fact doesn’t publish books by other authors. Just as you wouldn’t propose a business venture to a car manufacturer to make breakfast cereal, so you wouldn’t query a business book publisher with one author about a book that is not about business.

2. No publisher wants to know that you’re sending this around to lots and lots of publishers. You want to make the publisher feel special, talk about the books they’ve done that are in the same market, show them you know something about their company–and with the Internet, it’s so easy to do this now.

3. A book proposal should focus on why it is to the advantage of *the publisher* to take on this project. That means you look at how similar books have performed, you demonstrate the size of the audience, and you show the publisher how you intend to reach this audience through your speaking and writing, your personal networks, the publications with which you have relationships, etc.

4. Your proposal shows a lack of understanding about the industry. Most publishers do not translate in-house; they sell the rights to a publisher that produces books in that language (and not all books get translated–there has to be a publisher interested in the destination country). And publishers don’t find you a “famous book store.” Most publishers reach bookstores through distributors and wholesalers, and those orders occur for the most part when you, the author, generate interest in the book through media interviews and other methods (I go into this in detail in my own book Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers).

I would suggest that you visit https://www.grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com and purchase a copy of my book Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers. Orders from that website (either printed book or electronic edition) include several bonuses, including a five-chapter e-book called “How to Write and Publish a Marketable Book” (which I think would be extremely helpful to you). It also includes two actual marketing plans that you can use either to use as a model for your book proposal (though you would have to add an analysis of competing titles and your own credentials) or to map out a workable strategy for becoming your own publisher.

Wishing you the best of luck,
Shel Horowitz, Publisher
AWM Books

Awards and recognition help books get sold!

Here’s a chance to be one of the first profiled at my friend Dan Janal’s latest site, Cool Book of the Day:

https://www.coolbookoftheday.com

It’s a blog, so chosen books will be permanently archived. No cost to enter, at the moment. Knowing Dan, that might well change in the future.

If you’d like to be considered, e-mail dan AT prleads dot com, subject line: Cool Book, with your answers to these questions:

What is the title of the book?
Who is the intended audience?
What is the book about (4-6 sentences)
Why are you the best person to write this book?
How is this book different from other books on this topic?
Is there anything else we should know about this book?

Responses should be between 500 and 1,000 words.

Winners will be asked to place the “Cool Book of the Day” icon and link on their websites.

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month, Vol. 1 #4, October 2007

Guest Columnist:  Don McCauley

One of the techniques I teach in my book. . .

Why not give away a free gift? Or better yet, have someone ELSE give
them away. Here is how . . .

Since you have published a book, it might take just an hour or two to
create an e-book using already written excerpts FROM your book. Then
just print up some gift coupons for a FREE E-BOOK. The example I use in
my book is a book of recipes. Approach a local bakery and have the
owner give out YOUR gift coupons as THE BAKERY’s gift to THE BAKERY’s
patrons.

This accomplishes a number of things:

*Your free ebook serves as a ‘taste’ of the book, much the same as a
trailer provides a ‘taste’ of the full movie to come.

*The bakery gives a ‘gift’ to the bakery’s patrons at NO COST to the
bakery.

* The gift coupon has the effect of providing ‘third party’ influence
from the bakery, much the same as a referral FROM the bakery

* As the customer must visit your website to redeem the coupon, you now
have them in YOUR store. This gives you the opportunity to add this
person to YOUR mailing or newsletter list. They will most likely do
this, as they are certainly an INTERESTED prospect.

* The bakery is actually advertising for YOUR BOOK …. for FREE.

The end effect is that you win (getting an interested party to your
site for practically no cash layout) the bakery wins (gives a valuable
gift to the patrons) and the customer wins (gets a free gift). As
compared to using a flyer sent to potentially uninterested parties (1/2
of 1% return is the norm) there is simply no comparison.

The gift certificates will cost pennies to print compared to
potentially hundreds of dollars to print flyers.

Try this simple technique and track the results. Wow! Of course it goes
without saying that you will have to partner with a business in your
genre . . .

Don McCauley ICM, MTC, CH
Author-Top Ten Secrets To Getting Free Publicity
For Your Business Or Organization
Free Publicity Focus Group
www.freepublicitygroup.com

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month – Volume 1, #3, September 2007

Publicity is getting the word out about your product, service, and/or ideas. It brings visibility, credibility, opportunity, and sales.

Publicity provides the seal of approval of a trusted outside source: a journalist. Like testimonials and awards, this third-party validation helps the buyer choose your book in the crowded marketplace. It also means that a lot more people hear about your book.

When you get free publicity rather than pay for advertising, you give up control over the content. But you have the added legitimacy of being chosen to represent your field. Because news coverage at least pretends to be unbiased, it is more valuable than advertising; you get, in a sense, a testimonial—a disinterested, credible party who thinks you’re worthy of positive attention. Many people take news coverage more seriously than advertising—and may be more likely to be influenced by it than by a paid ad.

And sometimes, publicity leads to more contacts that advance your career: a meeting planner contacts you to see about doing a speech, a different journalist sees the story and wants to cover you as well, a company president sees the article and decides you’re the perfect consultant to get that company out of a rut. In short, the book becomes a doorway to ar more lucrative ventures.

Oh yes, and don’t forget that sometimes, an article or a TV or radio interview can actually motivate people to go out and buy that book! Especially if you make it easy by including your website, your phone number (toll-free is ideal), and some kind of special offer.

(Portions of this tip were taken from Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, and other portions from Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World–and some is original, just for you.)

Book Marketing Tip, August ’07–Volume 1, No. 2
Never Stop Chasing Coverage

If you talk to big publishers, you’ll hear a lot of malarkey about the brief, tiny window for news coverage on a new book–measured in months.

This is absolute garbage, and they should know better. After all, they’ve invested many thousands of dollars in each book. It’s in their interest to succeed, although sometimes it seems they don’t realize this. What it does mean is that if you’re a big-publisher author who believes in your own book, you can continue to breathe life into it long after the publisher’s publicity department has given up.

Several of my books have gotten significant coverage long after publication. In one case, a book I published in 1995 (on having fun cheaply) was mentioned in both Reader’s Digest and the MSN home page in one month–eight years after publication and after the book was already out of print and converted to an e-book! Four years later–12 years after publication–that book still gets me print, radio, blog, and other coverage. I do get a kick when radio hosts introduce me as “author of the new book” (and yes, I correct them, quickly and gently: “the book’s actually been out for some time”–I don’t want to mislead people).

In another case, Bottom Line (an extremely popular newsletter) did an extended three-page feature on my marketing methods, featuring the marketing book I had published with Simon & Schuster six years earlier. No help from S&S’s publicity department on that one, of course, but I just follow the methods I discuss in Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers.

And I don’t have some kind of magic secret sauce; I’ve heard from many other authors who routinely get publicity for books that are five, ten, even fifteen years old. Of course if your book is something like “How to Survive the Coming Y2K Crisis,” you’re out of luck. But for most of the rest of us, there will always be topical angles, fresh pitches, perennial tie-ins, and plenty of publicity if we just reach out for it.

Next month: why publicity builds legitimacy.

Book marketing consultant and copywriter Shel Horowitz is the author of Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers and six other books.

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month
Volume 1, Number 1, July, 2007

Welcome to the first edition of this newsletter and thanks for being one of my very first subscribers We’ve reached our minimum number of subscribers and we’re ready to go. I will publish every month on or about the 25th of the month, either with a tip of my own or guest tip. Sometimes it’ll be just a couple of paragraphs sometimes a full-length article.

This Month’s Tip: Treat Fiction as News

Since book marketers are often accused of neglecting fiction, let me start with a tip that especially applies to novelists and short story writers:

When you publicize your book, you can find a number of news angles to focus that can help you get coverage in the media. Here are three to start:

1. The situation or problem your protagonist faces. As an example, I know a novelist who wrote a book featuring a woman who discovers her husband is gay. She gets tons of media coverage, positioning herself as an expert on the issues that straight spouses of gays face.
2. The place where you the author live–but also the places your characters live in or travel to in your book.
3. Any charitable connection or cause. I’ve done a couple of press releases for Imaginator Press, highlighting the funds its young adult fantasy novels raise for butterfly protection and research.

Shel Horowitz’s award-winning seventh book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, offers 280 pages of great book marketing advice. Click here for a detailed preview.