BigStock Image and Shutterstock are competing for your image attention! And they're nice people who want to show-off what their photographers can do!
I know I showed you Compfight.com ~ the public domain/creative commons tool that roams flickr for awesome pictures! Now, BigStock and Shutterstock are stepping up and showing you what they got by giving you free images! Okay, they have for a while...and you should see the stockpile of creative common images and vectors they have! ACTION ITEM: If you look into images for blogs or videos sign-up to these two places (BigStock) (Shutterstock) and get your free images emailed to you every week!
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 It's very easy. Marketing = anything that deals with the book or buying the book.
Promotions = anything that allows readers to get to know the author. Social Media/Promotion. Google ad/Marketing. Now that we have that straight, let's get into the pitfalls of mixing up the two. Social media is not marketing. Facebook is where you get to engage your fans. Yes, tell them about your book, absolutely, but Facebook isn't going to buy your book. Facebook is going to be friends with you and it's a great place to be with that rowdy bunch that love you so much! Amazon "others bought.." is not promotions. This is where your readers are going to buy. Not every reader is going to see the same "others bought this book and you should too..." section. You get noticed, but you can't make a personable impression. Promotions is where you can be personable. Marketing is mass wide plastering of your name. So the point I'm getting at is: if you're on facebook/twitter thinking that's where you need to post things related to your book--you're wrong. This is where you post things related to YOU. Things you like. Things you stand up for. Things that make you laugh or make George Takei laugh. Whatever. Marketing can be slightly more tricky because everyone asks -- what sells books? Um... f8 and being there. Meaning being prepared and putting the book out. But what really sells books is a marketing plan, word of mouth, social proof, making it easy to buy the book and good presentation. For those who want to learn more about Marketing plans...here's another blog post that addresses that called: Book Planning 101: Marketing ACTION ITEM: Make a marketing plan and a promotions plan. Last week we had the ultimate dog tease. Now it's cat's turn!
 What do you think of when someone says "Publishing Process"?
Is it mysterious? Foreboding? Fun? Do you think of a person uploading an ebook to Amazon? making red marks on a word .doc? on the phone making deals to bookstores? What if I were to say that the publishing process has everything to do with finding out how to produce a book and make it available to the reader? What would you say to a publisher trying to find out how to get on other platforms, like tablet, phones or ezines? What does a publisher really do? One might say a publisher produces the book and gets it to distributors. One might say a publisher markets the books they produce. Another might say they read manuscripts all day, reject them all and then go home to the family and watch TV all night. I don't know about other publishers but I know what I do. I think about my author's career. Not just about the book they have written, but about the book they will write. There is no greater honor to help a writer build a book, get it out there and watch it shine. But once out, it's time for the next book. It's time for a little marketing of the book you have. I'm thinking, what's next? What is my storyteller going to write next? You see, we don't have a product until our writers write it. Each book is a dream. Each author is an interpreter of that dream. When that dream is concrete, on paper and out into the world, the publishing process ends and the marketing begins. I'm not longer a publisher but a marketer. So what is the publishing process? ACTION ITEM: You tell me! What is a publisher suppose to do?  Okay, I'd like to take today to acknowledge that some of my authors don't really know much about social media and I'm here to tell you that...it's OKAY.
My motto is EVERY THING, ALL THE TIME. But really, it should be one thing at a time. Social Media is frightening to some. What if I make a mistake? Yes, you can make a fauxs pas but handle it well and you can make a friend. Social media is a scary as meeting new people. It's a party and your always invited. But just like society their are rules, like, don't piss in the punch bowl. Also, only do what you can. If you can't do twitter then do Facebook. That's fine. But try both. One at a time. And do the one that makes you feel comfortable. In the beginning it will be awkward. It will be like that for all of them. But just like people, sometimes it takes really getting to know the person to see if you'll like them. Social Media is the same. ACTION ITEM: Try it! You might like it!  Photo Credit: Parker Fitzgerald via Compfight cc You have an email list, right? Right? If you don't I'm giving you this look right here -->
Assuming you know the powa of email and that you don't have MailChimp or another resource to push out emails...then I have a tool for you! Now you can check and see if your email looks beautiful EVERYWHERE! ACTION ITEM: https://litmus.com/email-testing Previews, images on, images off, on mobile devices and across 30+ different carriers. I'm looking at my email list and finding 50% of my emails are being received and looked at by cell phones. Huh. Okay then! Checking how your email will look makes sure your fans get your email clear as a bell--professional style!  Marketing fiction and Non-fiction books aren't the same. Yet, they are.
I knew I still needed an eye catching cover (yes the cover is part of my marketing strategy). I still needed a great description. I still needed to believe in the book. But where there are similarities, there are differences. Facebook =fiction Google ads=Non-fiction Fiction targets to people who are in a "fun" mindset. Non-fiction targets to people who are in a "work" mindset. Yes, even the metaphysical self-help book is considered "work" on oneself. So we carefully planed a winning strategy. For The Key Class: The Keys To Job Search Success we planned this entire book differently. Yet, the same as Luke's Tale or Hers To Command. We still needed: 1. Reviews 2. Promotions 3. A really good gin and tonic to put them all together. But the difference lies in how we did these things. In some ways the marketing is easier. It's easy to say...this book will change your job searching efforts for the better... than say...this book will entertain you and you must read it! But I looked at: 1. Who will benefit from this book? 2. Where can I find them? 3. What are the author's credentials? Pft. I knew John Daly was an expert in planning events, but his recent endeavor of helping young people find a job? The man was simply not putting it out there. What? My god man! You're changing the world one juvenile at a time and when asked what's new, you give crickets? That changed. When it did, he became know as Santa Barbara's etiquette master. WORD OF MOUTH. That's what it takes. So when you're looking at the differences of Non-fiction and fiction, remember there are fundamental things that each book needs to succeed. But don't think Non-fiction marketing and fiction marketing are too different. ACTION ITEM: Non-fiction writers, look at what fiction writers are doing to market their books. Fiction writers, look at what non-fiction writers are doing to market their books.  It's war out there!
AMAZON IS TAKING OVER! As a publisher I've got my eye out there looking at what other publishers are doing, what authors are saying and what people are generally freaking out about. Usually, people stampede to the next dilemma and it's actually fun to watch everyone go round and round. They get in a tissy over what Amazon is doing. Or Apple. Or Smashwords. Or Barnes and Nobel and on down the line to start again with Amazon. It's like a checklist. However, I pose a question ~ If Amazon died tomorrow and all your books from that site were gone, what would you do? How would it affect you? Conversely, if everyone BUT Amazon died tomorrow, how would it affect you? You can answer this question by looking to the historians ~ history's story tellers. In fact I bet you can tell me what would happen by answering this question...when banks started failing, how did it affect you? If you live off your writing this is a question you should think seriously about. If need be I'll sell books off the website. I will have books in every showcase possible. But there is a reason Amazon has become the 3rd largest search engine. It's easy, and they have the best prices. Action Item: Think about the questions |
Dear Reader,
My efforts are to make this a learning blog where writers can see the flip side of publishing. If you have comments that will improve your experience or have a certain topic you'd like discussed, please contact me through email - HERE. ~ Sincerley, Your Editor Stephanie McKibben Head Troll Troll River Publications Books on Kindle
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