Here's a twist on how I think about my marketing team. There are the marketers that interact with me directly that are part of my team, then there are indirect marketers that help me through their acts of kindness.

One of the people that post on their blogs that helps me market is BK Walker and her newest vlog PHAT Tuesday.

Her videos give actionable items that can help you with marketing and really get you motivated to be successful in writing, publishing & life. What BK Walker imparts are things you can do personally or professionally and I love that!!

If you're interested in watching her PHAT Tuesday's here is a link:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PHAT TUESDAY

One of the things I love about BK Walker is that she's real. She has a host of animals that happen to be her co-hosts on her vlog--whether she wants them as her co-hosts or not. I don't feel like she's an unreachable professional that has "done all this and now I'm telling you how it is..." she does this to help her clients and other authors. You can tell that while she's imparting great information, she's not sterile. Her office is her couch.

Leave the stuffy copy-written scripts of those that can give a good speech. Embrace the wisdom of marketing from the heart.

ACTION ITEM: Watch the video. Follow BK Walker's blog (if you're so inclined).

~ The mega event planner dedicated to giving people the social skills needed in today's world.

~ Sees her stories through a dog's eyes...

~ Author of dirty stories revolving around social taboos

Everyone talks about balance of life and work, but I have trouble balancing work.

Confused?

Mwahhaha...my work is done here.

This is what I mean...I can say when to stop work and now it's play time, but sectioning off what to do at work is difficult for me.

I have no set schedule doing the same routine. It's all different every day.
So I have the 20/40/30 split.

However many hours I have, I split the time up in that ratio.

For example: If I have 3 hours I can spend 36 minutes on Publishing, 72 minutes writing, and 54 minutes on Marketing. If you paying super close attention you'll ask what happened to the other 10%?

Well, much like business, you have to have a "savings" in all things and that includes time. Somewhere over the 3 hours I might dick around, need to go to the bathroom, get interrupted by the dog or whatever for 18 minutes (going with the 3 hour span). So that 18 minutes is my ¡¡whoops!! time.

But this ratio isn't always possible. So I have to budget hours and days. Yesterday I did way more publishing than marketing...so what do I do today? Yep. More time marketing than publishing.

Does running to Office Max for pens go under publishing, writing or marketing time?

Sounds anal? Welcome to my world of publishing--we have cupcakes...and coffee.

It all depends on your organizational skills and attention span.

ACTION ITEM: Time yourself, decide what kind of split you need to be productive!!

Okay you guys, it's time to put you all in the get-along T-shirt.

You all might deny that Indie authors are publishers. Especially Indie authors.

But the fact of the matter is...Indies are no different than those so-called traditional published authors.

Go ahead, say no, no,no,no,no--I'm not like other writers.

So, I'm going to take that mask of denial off your face and show you how we all are similar.

Indie authors run their writing business how they want. And trust me, all of you are running a business. Amazon uses your SS#/EIN for a reason.

"Traditional published" authors are running a business, they just don't have to worry/control some of the aspects of the publishing side. They've handed it over to a partner--who they pay. These writers might feel like they don't have control, but the reality is they tend to give it away when signing the contract. They just accept that this/that and the other thing is non-negotiable. While there are some things that are a no-go, think long before deciding you can work with a non-negotiable. 

You're getting paid. Therefore you are a publishing official.

Both Indie and trads get paid. Some get paid by different retailers, some get paid by one.

It's in the way you run your business. You can submit to different publishers and wait for a partner to pick you, or you can pick your partners to help you with this. 

 To truly be an Indie author, you need to write your stories down on college-ruled paper and make copies at kinko's, bind it with glue and sell it for how ever much. Everyone else, is an author/publisher no trad, no indie--no self-published, there's no such thing.

*Going off topic*
I like the term Micro-pub--you're now a micro-publisher, Congratulations! You'll have that title for the rest of your life.
*Back on topic-somewhat*

Maybe you have a vendetta against Penguin, Walmart and Google. Yay for you, but in my eyes the only thing that larger publishing houses ***might*** have an advantage is reader confidence and funds. That's it. Something anyone has the *possibility* to gain.

So have a hot cup of shut-the-hell-up and write. This big bad micro-publisher wishes you success.

ACTION ITEM: Stop calling my authors self-published! HHHEEEELLLLOOO! Am I even in the room here?

Today's tool isn't free--it's $20 but I felt the tool was worth the price of admission.

For those publishers who want a little more than just putting in key words in amazon's search engine to pull up what's popular in that root word...here's something that might help when trying to find the right keywords if you write to a certain market.

Yes, yes--don't write to the market, but there are always going to be those that do.

And darn it--how can John Grisham write about relevant topics right when those topics become hot??? Just saying...

ACTION ITEM: If you don't want to buy the tool, check Amazon's search engine for relevant root words relating to the subject of your book.

*TRP AUTHOR'S* Please don't do the action item and then email me your suggestions--I've already spent 20+/hours over the weekend doing this for you. Your book keywords are updated. Thank you.

Friday you might have listened to me mumble about spinning books and momentum. You can listen to the whole embarrassing recorded message that makes me sound stoned HERE.

If you didn't it was about marketing--which is why I'm revisiting it today on Marketing Monday!

I think a good push in the beginning is necessary, and every week do a little something to keep the momentum going.

When a book comes out we have a week long push and then from there a weekly push and from there a monthly push. Here are my thoughts:

Day 1 ☼ R4R -- Give your Advanced readers a link to Amazon to give their reviews. Email your list and let them know your book is out and where. Blog that your book is available.
Day 2 ☼ List your book on BookDaily, Librarything, and what ever service that lets readers see your book. Look for some promo/marketing/ad opportunities while you're there.
Day 3 ☼ Kindle Nation Daily Ad
Day 4 ☼ Kindle Fire Dept. Ad
Day 5 ☼ PixelScroll Ad 
Day 6 ☼ Author Marketing Club Ad
Day 7 ☼ Kick off your Virtual Book Blog Tour

Day 14 ☼ Take the promo/marketing/ad opportunities you found on day 2 and use them

Day 22 ☼ eBook/Print giveaway ~ Give 5 copies away to fans

Day 29 ☼ Start at day 3 and repeat every month using your own combination you found that works. 

Yes, you will spend money but the return on investment requires faith. Who better to have faith in the book than the one who wrote it?

Want to hear me ramble like an idiot about this epiphany I had? Remember that it was 2 AM in the morning and I was very tired and had just woken up. But there's not much difference from the awake version either.

A romantic garden, fine delicacies, tea and good friends. This was how I spent my Tuesday. But, if you really want to see how it went I found this article: Afternoon Tea in the Garden Toasts The Key Class.

You might be asking me how this has anything with today's topic--publishing process--and I'd tell you that books are concepts and this is how they start. John Daly is the concept and founder of The Key Class which is supported by Macy's at Paseo Nuevo, Daniel Bryant Youth Center, Partners in education and others. The Key Class helps youths who need better social skills especially if they're going to get a job.

I think his video does the best job of explaining:

I was honored to be at the Afternoon Tea in the Garden compliments of John Daly because I published his book~ The Key Class: The Keys to Job Search Success.

John has been working in the Special Events industry for more than 30 years and a small gathering of about 100 people was nothing for him to coordinate.

In fact when I arrived a little early (at John's request) we saw his vivacious arms waving instructions to his staff setting up what I'd call "the goods" (chocolates, fruits, edibles in which I had ALL of them).

I cannot believe this man has "retired" from the events industry because you just don't have his passion without loving it and when you love something you never leave. He throws that kind of passion into the young men and women who desperately need guidance on how to interact with others.

As John Daly says in the video--he's seen a kid ready to be jumped into a gang and then make the turn after taking The Key Class seminars. The kids that take this class will always "belong" to him, just as the Special Event industry will always "own" him.

For whatever reason, these two careers work in a combination that just works and helps these kids. Shane Meares (above in the top picture) was one of those kids that took The Key Class.

All of John Daly's knowledge in helping others prepare for the working force, including but not limited to: young teens, adults, those with work, and those trying to find a job now have the benefit of learning John's secrets in the first volume of his book, The Key Class: The Keys to Job Search Success.

Even if you can't take the class you can still gain John Daly's insight from his book.  You'll also directly help John fund his passion for these kids. When you purchase the print book it also comes with the kindle version for free which is my way of saying thank you all, for your support.

This will always be put up on this day. For me... it sums up everything.

NovelRank tracks sales and book position on Amazon. It's the easiest thing to make your author's go nuts since spreadsheet sales tracking!!

If your author is worried about being #1 on Amazon or where their book ranks in the ratings, this is the tool!!

Push the button, give 'em your ASIN, choose your between book sales or sales rank and off you go!! It gives you a beautiful chart/graph. But what I like most about NovelRank is what I circled in red below:

What a great way to find new readers. The price to get featured is a donation so you help out the site. I love that. As for the rank tool itself, I feel it's a bit too much on keeping score against other writers. I subscribe to the Skip Cohen lessons learned in marketing:

1. Don’t compare yourself to others in the market.

ACTION ITEM: If your author freaks out about the rankings, just match their frantics and say, "Oh no!! You're not ranked #1? We've got to get you to Write MORE good BOOKS!!"

Watch them write like the wind...(the only way to write!!)