It’s one thing to write a book, but an entirely different thing to write one that’s saleable, viable, and marketable. With careful planning you can market, promote, and get (free) publicity (publicity is always free) on a limited budget; you can take the cheap and easy way. In today’s publishing environment, a book’s success depends greatly on a strong marketing plan.
Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords.
Send out the same press release to the editor of your local daily newspaper every week until you are called for an interview or are written up. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why. ‘ Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases.
Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month.
Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing.
Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women’s market. Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigs List in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website.
It’s important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website.
Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed. Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment.
Arrange to speak at local, regional and national events that relate to your book topic; bring books along and have an associate sell them at the back of the room. Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions.
Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book. Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines.
The success of any book marketing effort depends on a good book and just plain hard work; its been done many times before and you can do it too. If you apply yourself every day and you promote your book like crazy, you can achieve that ultimate goal of selling thousands of copies of your book, many self publishers have. One of the biggest problems self publishers and book publishers tell me about is the hundreds of books they have in inventory they haven’t set up a marketing plan for; don’t let this happen to you — get prepared now.

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You’ve heard of audio books, or recorded books before, haven’t you? Many people, even the ones who use them daily, remain tongue-tied when it comes to answering correctly the following questions. Why? My guess is that audio books in general are so convenient to use. Many of us prefer to venture into the scenes of an audio book without delay more willingly. Spending our precious time researching every detail about its creation remains a distant “maybe”. On the other hand, there are a few details about recorded books you want to know. What for? ’Cause knowing them makes it easier for you to navigate around audio books with more confidence. Your improved “shopper’s education” to make the right choice is worth it. I admit I used to be unaware of even the basic terms about audio books myself. So, I asked questions to get answers. Guess what? I’ve found them. And I’d love to share them with you so you can save time researching the same questions. If you’d like to know the answers to the following basic questions about audio books, keep on reading. What’s an audio book? An audio book is a book in audio format. It is a “fun replacement” for a physical hardcover or paperback book you’d read from cover to cover. Instead, you grab-n-read books on CD, books on tape, or MP3 books versions. What formats do audio books come in? You can get recorded books on tape, books on CD, and MP3 books. From an old-fashioned cassette player to modern and sleek MP3 players, audio books keep you company on-the-go where traditional book reading is simply unsuitable. What’s an MP3 book? MP3 books are still audio books. But a clever compression technique reduces the file size to take up less recording space. Besides that, MP3’s are portable and easily downloadable. Storing them is a breeze when compared to piling up stacks of cassettes or CD’s. How can recorded books in MP3 format be played back? You can play MP3 audio books on any MP3 portable player. You can also play them on your home PC (need to have Windows Media Player or similar). Playing MP3’s on a laptop or MP3-enabled cellular phones is the latest trend. If you don’t have an MP3 player, but have a CD player, you can burn MP3 files to a CD using your computer. You’ll need special software to do that. Search Google for “free software to burn CD’s” . What does “unabridged audio book” mean? Good question. An “unabridged” audio book is narrated (or told) word for word. It’s the printed book equal in audio format. Nothing’s missing. Nothing’s added. As a result, they are longer than “abridged” versions. What’s an “abridged audio book” version then? It’s similar to the printed original, but shorter. The word-for-word narration from the previous example is not exact. “Abridged” also means shortened, cut. Keep that in mind if you are looking for the original version. What are “dramatized audio books”? Dramatized audio books are stage-like, “play-life” versions of printed books. You get all the bells and whistles: full cast, music and sound effects. Some people prefer it; some would rather get a simple, told version by an experienced narrator. Is there a difference between having the author of the physical book tell the audio version, or is it better to have a professional narrator do the job? Some authors are gifted for both writing and telling their own book. Others are better off leaving it to professional “voice-over calibers”. If you can, listen to a sample of the recorded book that catches your interest. It’ll help you decide if the narrator resonates with you. Some people swear that half the beauty of an audio book is the voice-over quality. Where’s a good place to start for a novice interested in recorded books? An excellent place to start is to pick up a favorite story you already know about, but would like to “read” as an audio. About the length, pick “abridged” audio books to start with to cut down on time they take to play back. Once you become more skilled with recorded books, you got to check out “unabridged” editions as downloadable audio MP3 books as soon as you can.

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As a self publisher you can market and promote your book on a shoestring budget, thousands of independent publishers have done it; be careful about your promotion and marketing dollars and don’t plunge into unknown waters — test, test, and test some more. Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and it should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book. Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin before the manuscript is completed.
Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why. ‘ Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media.
Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style, which you can send out for the lifetime of your book. Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords. Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases.
Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales.
Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website. Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book.
Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website.
Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing. Arrange to speak at local, regional and national events that relate to your book topic; bring books along and have an associate sell them at the back of the room.
It’s important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse. You can give away your book in a raffle at a local function to get more book recognition. If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way.
Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women’s market.
Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines. Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets.
Now promote, promote, and promote your book some more! Use your book promotion and book marketing dollars wisely; go after the free and cheap resources daily. If you apply yourself every day and you promote your book like crazy, you can achieve that ultimate goal of selling thousands of copies of your book, many self publishers have done it.

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