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By Dana Lynn Smith* Everyone's buzzing about Pinterest, a rapidly growing social site that's all about creating and sharing collections of images (photos or illustrations) that you find around the Web or create yourself. Pinterest calls itself a “Virtual Pin Board’ and members can use it to share their favorite artwork and books, organize recipes, plan weddings, post travel photos, and more. The site is basically a giant online bulletin board that people pin images to. As a user, you create "boards" geared to different topics or interests. View examples of Pins and Boards Read the full Pinterest – The Hottest New Social Site - The Savvy Book Marketer *Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer, helps authors and indie publishers learn how to sell more books through her how-to guides, blog, newsletter, and private coaching. Get her free Top Book Marketing Tips ebook , visit her blog , follow on Twitter , and connect on Facebook .

How do you write good back blurb? "This is a list of what featured most often from a number of bestselling thrillers reviewed as research from my bookshelf. The principles hold true for any genre although the details change for each." Read full article: How To Write a Back Blurb For Your Book - The Savvy Book Marketer

It’s Not About the Technology, It’s About the Customers Date: 18/8/10 When I started working with authors on their publicity campaigns, the landscape was reasonably simple. Arranging phone interviews on talk radio shows, appearances on TV and getting reviews in major newspapers and magazines drove consumer interest. Everyone bought their books in bookstores and the only people interested in the Internet were some computer geeks. Boy, have things changed. Today 44 percent of ALL books sold in North America are sold online at Amazon.com. What’s more, e-books now account for nearly 30 percent of all of Amazon’s sales. I want to underscore the importance of this information, because one of the most difficult things to do in the mass consumer marketplace is to figure out where your customers might be. For the book market, it’s no mystery – nearly half of your customers are researching and buying online. They live there, so that’s where you need to be. Moreover, the e-book is growing i

Authors have to do their own marketing, that is the reality of the publishing industry whether you get a publishing deal or you self-publish. These days anyone can market globally using just a computer and their time. It may take effort, but it doesn’t need to cost you anything – and you might even enjoy it! Many thanks to the 'The Creative Penn' for compiling these comprehensive lists of articles, audios and inspiration for marketing your books. Topic covered include. * The Basics: Author Branding and the Author Platform * Social Networking * Podcasting * Video * Speaking * Other Book Marketing Strategies Access all these and more by clicking on this link: Be sure to come back and share some feedback. . .

Monday, July 12, 2010 Tips For Writing   Write the story within you. Most writers will tell you to write the book that's in you right now, the book you think about every waking minute, the book you have no choice about writing. Don't write the book your publisher wants, or the book your mother wants, or the book that's guaranteed to make the New York Times bestsellers list. If it's not the book that is kicking and screaming to get out of your head and onto paper, you'll only wind up being disappointed in it, and it probably won't please your publisher, your mother, or anyone at the New York Times. Hand in hand with that goes... Believe in yourself. This is crucial to not only writing well, but selling the book you do write. If it's too elusive, too overwhelming, or causes you to snort derisively, please consult with a good therapist. Keep a journal of ideas. You can keep an actual journal or book and write down story ideas, character names, plot tw

Thursday, July 15, 2010 Here are some great sites that you might find valuable to you with regards to marketing your books, from Christian Author Promotions & Book Marketing Vis ta Print - Offers free products, free designing and lots of additional products from post cards, to letterhead, to business cards and other great advertising and marketing tools. www.visitaprint.com PhotoBucket - A great place to host pictures, videos and create photo albums. It's free and lots of fun. www.photobucket.com Go Daddy - Go Daddy is the premier hosting company for web sites, From domains to hosting to you name it and they have it. www.godaddy.com The Blog Catalog - If you have a authors blog this is a great community to join and share your authors blog. They have some intense traffic. www.blogcatalog.com Christian Top 1000 - Join the Christian Top 1000 and add your authors web site or blog. www.christiantop1000.com The Authors Club - Don't forget to join the Authors C

By Stefanie Guzikowski July 01, 2010 2:00 AM " Many people think that when they're finished writing their book, the hard work is over, but the truth is, marketing is critical to an author's success. Marketing campaigns do more than drive sales. They generate awareness and excitement about a book, create a sense of urgency, demonstrate the author's expertise and build a community of fans and supporters, who can also serve as "ambassadors" for the book and the author. While marketing does take time, energy and money, today's authors can't afford not to implement a marketing campaign. Authors work hard to stand out as creative, talented writers, and they must tap into that creativity once again to develop an engaging, powerful marketing campaign. It takes considerable effort and time to successfully promote and market a book prior to, during, and after a book launch. In fact, promotion should begin three to six months prior to printing and continue

July 2nd, 2010 Guest Expert: Teresa Morrow You have taking on the endeavor of writing a book. In order to sell your book, you will need to tell people about it. You will need to communicate the message about your book so those readers who resonate with your book will want to know more about you and the book. And how you communicate this message can either bring in more sales or possibly drive people away from wishing to know more about your book. 1. Communication is give and take – Any meaningful conversation consists of listening and speaking. You are excited to share the message of your book with people, but don’t allow this enthusiasm hinder you listening to the questions, comments and suggestions others may communicate with you during a conversation. You do not want to dominate the conversation by talking about you and your book and not allowing others to share their part of the conversation. By listening to others in a conversation, you will open yourself up to meeting new p

Stephen V. Masse was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He wrote his first novelat age 13, handwritten into a school composition book. Educated at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he studied creative writing, and was author of a weekly newspaper column, “Out of Control.” His first novel for children, Shadow Stealer, was published by Dillon Press in 1988. Short Circus is his second novel for children. In addition to children’s books, Masse has written A Jolly Good Fellow, winner of the Silver Medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards, as well as honorable mention in the 2008 New England Book Festival for best books of the holiday season. Stephen’s latest Book is Short Circus. Welcome to Book Marketing Buzz, Stephen. Can we begin by having you tell us a little about your book? Short Circus is twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood’s own story about his remarkable adventures with his Big Brother Jesse Standish, and a host of neighbors and friends. When Jem discovers that

" I sat in the audience at the James River Writers’ Conference last year where a panel of three well-known authors spoke on book marketing. They offered what I consider the secret to marketing your book. After the authors held their discussion, they opened the floor for Q & A. An aspiring author asked a question which I’ll paraphrase. She asked, how much time did the authors spend on marketing their books and how much on their physical writing. The authors covered their microphones and whispered among themselves. They then nodded in unison. One of them leaned into his microphone and said, “seventy-five percent on marketing and twenty-five percent on writing.” The other two nodded their agreement. A sudden hush fell over the audience. However, a hubbub soon rumbled around the room. I think everyone in attendance had the same question I did. “Really?” The authors then went on to explain their collective comment, but each one agreed on the formula offered. " . Read Ful

To promote your book successfully, it’s important to budget funds for book marketing. While it’s certainly possible to do online book promotion on a shoestring budget, you will still need to invest in promoting your book. The amount you should budget depends on your book marketing plan. Here are some expense categories to consider and some money-saving tips: Blog/Website: Website design and hosting fees. If you use a blog-based website, you’ll minimize costs for online book promotion. Graphics: Design of website header and graphics, design of printed materials, purchase of stock images for blog/website, and a photo shoot for your author photo. Services such as Killer Covers and eCoverBee can provide lower cost website graphics. Printing: Business cards, bookmarks, postcards, flyers, and posters for personal appearances. In addition to local printers, check prices for online printers such as Printing for Less. Copywriting and Editing: You may want to hire a professional co

Posted by Teresa, Friday Jun 11, 2010 Some may say gone are the days of the traditional press kit where you have a two pocket folder with your press release on one side and the sheet of endorsements or reviews on the other. Even though these may still be relevant, there is something that is more vital than ever for authors to have and that is an online media (or press) kit. Like the traditional press kit, you will want to include a recent press release and a list of reviews in your online press kit, however, a few more things will help round out the online press kit such as: 1) Book Cover Image – In a jpeg file format and in a few different sizes to help facilitate placement on websites and print. Read Full article:   Online Promotion Tip: 7 Must Haves for Author Online Press Kit . .

Most authors achieve a lifelong goal when they write and publish a book. But it’s not long before the stark light of reality hits when they realize that they now have to put on the hat of marketer. For many, they have no desire to engage in book marketing, or sales activities, and yet the success of finding new readers for their book will depend on it. One principle I learned early on is that you can achieve a lot more success with people behind you than you can achieve if you try to go at this alone. And not just in getting people to read your book and asking them to tell others about it. I’m talking about ways to get your name in front of many people. By default, then, your book will ride on the coattails of your exposure. So, how can you accomplish this? Consider these ideas: Read full article at: Book Marketing Mondays: Don’t Go At It Alone The Official BookBuzzr Blog . .

Bookstores are the traditional place to sell books, but sales opportunities abound with gift shops and specialty retailers. Potential retail markets for books include national chain stores, regional chains, thousands of small independently owned gift and specialty shops, and specialty online stores. One advantage of marketing a book to gift and specialty stores is that there is usually little competition from other books. And retailers have the opportunity to cross-promote your book with related items. Look for retailers that are a good fit for your particular book and don't be afraid to think outside the box. Here are a few examples of places to market a book: Cookbooks in kitchen shops, gift shops, specialty food stores, and upscale grocery stores Children's books in toy stores and the gift shops of children's and science museums Gardening books at gardening centers, gift shops, and botanical gardens Chic lit and gift books in clothing boutiques Travel guides and

Courtesy of Dana Lynn Smith, the Book Marketing Maven To download your free Top Book Marketing Tips ebooks, click the links below: Top Book Marketing Tips 2008, Volume I Top Book Marketing Tips 2009, Volume 2 Each of these ebooks is packed with practical tips and book marketing advice from my blog and newsletter. Source: Dana Lynn Smith, the Book Marketing Maven, develops book marketing plans for nonfiction books. For more book marketing tips, visit the Book Marketing Maven blog and check out The Savvy Book Marketer Guides .

A book marketing plan is a blueprint for selling your book. Because there are many different ways to promote a book, and authors have limited time and budgets, it's important to put together a written book marketing plan and prioritize your book promotion tasks. A comprehensive book marketing plan would include timelines and budgets. There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all book marketing plan. The best marketing plan for your book will depend on the type of book or information product you're selling, the audience, your budget and time constraints, and your skills and interests. A book marketing plan outlines the overall book sales strategy, covering items such as these: * Your goals for the book * Description of your book and competing products * How your book will be packaged, priced, and distributed * Description of your primary and secondary target audiences * Characteristics, needs and wants of the target audiences * How you will reach your target audienc