Posts Tagged ‘what is book-marketing’
Your Book Marketing Plan – Winning Strategies and Tips
Many authors hit a roadblock when it comes to putting together and implementing a book marketing plan. You know you need to have one, you have a vague idea of what it needs to include, but pulling it all together into a step-by-step plan of attack is not nearly as easy as it sounds.
A good starting point is to break your plan up into major categories. From there, you can further define and set up strategies for each area of your book marketing plan.
The first thing that comes to mind for most authors and self publishers is book store sales. Makes sense doesn’t it? That’s where people buy books don’t they? It’s true that making your book available to the general public through bookstores is a very vital component of your marketing plan.
However, it is just that — one single component of your plan. There are many elements that will make up your book marketing plan and arranging to have your book available in bookstores is just one of them. Let’s call that component #1:
Book Marketing Plan Component #1
Making Books Available in Bookstores
Now, it’s one thing to secure placement for your book on the bookstore shelves, but now how are people going to know it’s there? Customers can’t (and won’t) buy something they’ve never heard of. This is where the publicity component of your Book Marketing Plan comes into play. Setting up and ongoing publicity campaign is the number one way to drive customers to the bookstore to buy your book. We’ll call this component #2:
Book Marketing Plan Component #2
Setting up and Implementing a Successful Publicity Campaign
Besides book stores, you can also sell your books to nontraditional book buyers like display retailers, book clubs, catalogs, gift retailers, volume buyers (think Costco and Price Club), corporations, foundations and foreign markets. We sell thousands of self published books to buyers like these all the time and targeting these buyers should make up a good portion of your book marketing plan. This will be component #3:
Book Marketing Plan Component #3
Non-traditional Markets
In this day and age, you would be making a big mistake if you didn’t include the internet as a vital component of your Book Marketing Plan. The internet is the best way to directly reach your target customers. It is also the best way to sell to them since you cut out any third parties and retain 100% of the profits. There are many ways to research the internet to ensure that there is a demand for your book and the best ways to fill that demand.
Book Marketing Plan Component #4
The Internet – Your Book Website
These are the four most important components of your Book Marketing Plan. Now you must research each component individually to customize the approach you take for your book.
© Copyright 2004 Ink Tree Ltd.
Ink Tree Ltd. helps authors publish, market and sell books. We have all the tools you need to succeed in book marketing and book promotion. Let us help you make your book a success. http://www.inktreemarketing.com/BookMarketingKit.htm
Five Secrets of Winning Book Proposals
Working in the publishing industry comes with a high expectation, especially from complete strangers. After the causal ‘hello’ progresses to ‘what do you do,’ and my answer is ‘I am a publisher,’ the words, like fairy dust, work magic; and in the eyes of my conversation partner, I’m transformed into a glamorous Advice Goddess-would I mind reading this stranger’s book proposal?
Cornered in frozen foods at the grocery, black-tie events or at the bus stop, I’ve been ‘pitched’ as we say in the business, with such book proposals as: A Cat’s Tale of Christmas; Old Testament Aphrodisiacs; Break Out (after being committed to a mental institution by jealous relatives, the story of one man’s quest for revenge); and Suck it and See: A Guide to Tropical Fruits.
Admittedly, I chose to share with you the more colorful examples. My point being that the purpose of a proposal pitch is not to motivate the publisher to love the idea as much as you do. That’s the misconception. The publisher is listening for signals that you understand the process of transforming a book concept into a business plan. It’s not just about your passion for the topic: it’s how well you filter your passion through the publisher’s prism of marketing and distribution. That’s the difference between a contract and a polite rejection letter.
Let’s take a look at five typical questions that an agent or a publisher will ask in their submission guidelines.
Question #1: Please provide the title that best captures and conveys the essence of your book and briefly explain why you chose it.
What the publisher is really thinking:
Will the book buyer for Barnes & Noble recognize the section to shelve the book by its title alone?
Is the title’s message succinct and snappy so the publisher’s sales representative will remember it easily?
How does the rest of proposal support what the title says?
Question #2: Briefly describe the primary audience for your book and how they will benefit from reading it.
What the publisher is really thinking:
The book cannot be all things to all people. Do you demonstrate focus?
Are you confident about who the customer is and the primary (most appropriate) category where the book should be placed in the bookstore?
Do you provide three distinct benefits that relate to the book’s core premise?
Question #3: List competing books that you are aware of on this topic and explain how your book differs.
What the publisher is really thinking:
How do you demonstrate that your premise is solid in relation to existing books?
Will the publisher’s sales representatives understand where your book fits among five other books in the same category?
Do you contradict what the book is or is not elsewhere in the proposal?
Question #4: What are your expectations for the project?
What the publisher is really thinking:
Do you sound like you expect to make a million dollars and plan to retire on your royalty earnings?
Is your goal to raise the level of topic discussion and to advance your profile as a thought leader?
How realistic are you about the work involved to write the book from start to finish?
Question #5: Describe your qualifications for writing this book and include your latest curriculum vitae or other relevant factors.
What the publisher is really thinking:
Several proposals are discussed during a publisher’s editorial board meeting. Why say ‘yes’ to yours?
What is your media platform? How are you going to be an asset in marketing and promoting the book?
What’s your track record?
If you are now thinking about you book concept as a business plan, bravo! This is the foundation for a solid beginning; and, I encourage you to continue forward. High-quality books written by people who are committed to excellence (in any sphere of living) are in short supply. Adopt the publisher’s perspective-how will it sell and to whom-and you will not only become a published author. You will make a difference in the world.
Melissa Rosati is a co-active coach, whose clients are writers, authors and creative artists. Prior to her coaching career, she was the Director, Editorial & Production for McGraw-Hill International (UK). She now resides in New York City. Her forthcoming book, The Essential Publisher’s Handbook shows readers how to publish profitably. Register for a complimentary subscription to her newsletter, The Essential Publisher at http://www.melissarosati.com
© 2005 Melissa A. Rosati. All rights reserved.
