RainToday.com, a website for professionals who want to grow their business, offers a weekly a newsletter called The Rainmaker Report. In this week's issue, they pointed to an article on their website about Three Profitable Branding Models for Experts by Vickie K. Sullivan.
It's a great article for anyone thinking about building a platform, including authors. Most of the examples in the article were authors. A great read. Check it out here:
http://www.raintoday.com/pages/ 2190_three_profitable_branding_models_for_experts.cfm.
While you're at the RainToday website, you might want to subscribe to their free weekly RainMaker Report. Good stuff.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Random House's Insight Program
Random House's Insight digital book distribution is a really neat trick that allows users to search individual titles or entire book databases. Plus it allows book sales sites like Amazon.com as well as other websites and bloggers can insert Insight's widget into their sites to allow the same searches and previews. Their service could revolutinize the way books are sold on the web.
They are now offering their Insight program to other publishers under the direction of Mike Shatz, their digital vice president. For more information, check out http://www.randomehouse.biz.
One drawback to their service. Users have to update to Flash 9, but that's probably a good thing for users all around.
They are now offering their Insight program to other publishers under the direction of Mike Shatz, their digital vice president. For more information, check out http://www.randomehouse.biz.
One drawback to their service. Users have to update to Flash 9, but that's probably a good thing for users all around.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
10 Best Book Marketing Steps - Teleseminar
John Kremer will be doing a teleseminar on Thursday, March 1st, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time and 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. My topic will be The 10 Best Book Marketing Steps. Peter W. Johnson Jr. of AdvisorPress will be interviewing John. To participate, call 646-519-5860 and enter PIN 6478#.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Free Book Marketing Audio
Do you want a free audio of me revealing The 30 Best Ways to Market Your Book? I recently did a 104-minute interview with my friend Steve Harrison where we covered the most effective book promotion strategies almost every author should pursue first.
To listen in, go to http://www.bookmarketingbestsellers.com/free-book-marketing-audio
To listen in, go to http://www.bookmarketingbestsellers.com/free-book-marketing-audio
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
How to Use LinkedIn and Other Connections Websites
Guy Kawasaki, author of The Art of the Start, has blogged about Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn in his How to Change the World Blog. His tips apply to other connector websites as well. Read his blog here: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Buy 1, Get 3 Audio Generator Program
I want to let you know about an incredible program that allows you to add audio, video, and other great marketing options to your website and email. I think Audio Postcards and Video Postcards are going to change the way email is used.
To find out more, go to http://www.bookmarket.com and listen to the audio on that page.
If you want to go directly to the website to find out more about a new Buy 1, Get 3 offer that this service is making, go to http://Buy1Get3.com.
On that web page, you'll find out about a phone call announcing this new service that will occur at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, February 21, 2007. If you can't wait for the phone call, you can also sign up for the service right away by going to the same page: http://Buy1Get3.com.
That's what I did, because they are limiting the offer to the first 500 people and I didn't want to miss out. So check it out as soon as you get this email.
Buy 1, Get All 3 Promotion
Click Here Now - This is an easy program to use.
To find out more, go to http://www.bookmarket.com and listen to the audio on that page.
If you want to go directly to the website to find out more about a new Buy 1, Get 3 offer that this service is making, go to http://Buy1Get3.com.
On that web page, you'll find out about a phone call announcing this new service that will occur at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, February 21, 2007. If you can't wait for the phone call, you can also sign up for the service right away by going to the same page: http://Buy1Get3.com.
That's what I did, because they are limiting the offer to the first 500 people and I didn't want to miss out. So check it out as soon as you get this email.
Buy 1, Get All 3 Promotion
Click Here Now - This is an easy program to use.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Commercial Sponsors
Another good friend died this morning: Dottie Walters, author of Speak and Grow Rich and one of the most wonderful people in the world of speaking and books. I will miss her dearly.
Sometime during the past year or so, she released a new 2-CD album on Commercial Sponsors: Learn to Find, Keep and Please Them. If you have ever thought of looking for a commercial sponsor for your book, speaking career, or other efforts, her CD album is a great resource. To order or find out more, email Deborah Acero at sharingorders@aol.com.
If you had a chance to get to know Dottie, you know what a wonderful heart she had. God bless her on her new journey.
Sometime during the past year or so, she released a new 2-CD album on Commercial Sponsors: Learn to Find, Keep and Please Them. If you have ever thought of looking for a commercial sponsor for your book, speaking career, or other efforts, her CD album is a great resource. To order or find out more, email Deborah Acero at sharingorders@aol.com.
If you had a chance to get to know Dottie, you know what a wonderful heart she had. God bless her on her new journey.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Indie Publishers: Publishers Weekly Story deadline
Independent publishers are urged to submit information for possible inclusion in Publishers Weekly small publisher feature by Friday, February 9th. To be considered for their annual look at fast-growing small publishers, presses with net sales between $2 million and $10 million should submit net sales for 2004–2006, number of employees in those years, as well as the number of new titles released. Sales figures will be kept confidential. A brief description of the reasons behind the growth should also be included.
To submit, email Jim Milliot at jmilliot@reedbusiness.com or call 646-746-6867.
Remember: The deadline is this Friday, February 9th.
To submit, email Jim Milliot at jmilliot@reedbusiness.com or call 646-746-6867.
Remember: The deadline is this Friday, February 9th.
Monday, February 05, 2007
What Has Happened to Good Book Covers?
While reading the latest issue of Foreword magazine, I noticed that at least half of the book covers featured in that issue were not up to par.
Whether books reviewed or advertised, the covers were not retail-ready. Even New World Library, who normally does an incredible job of packaging their books, had two books reviewed that had flat, boring, uninteresting covers. What gives? Who was sleeping on the job? Not only with them, but with so many other small publishers as well.
Here look at the two covers from New World Library. Look at how flat and boring they are. Note how the elements for the cover seem to be unrelated. Notice the boring type faces. The way the photos just hang there. I've seen many, many self-published books with better covers than Beyond Knowing. Haven't you?
I asked for feedback on whether or not I was just having a bad night when I first viewed these covers. I called my book cover designer George Foster of Foster Covers. Well, he agreed with me. In addition, he agreed to redesign one of the covers just to help others see the difference between covers pasted together in pieces like the above and a well-designed cover. I like his better. Do you? See below.
Notice how the above cover highlights the main benefit of the book by showcasing the subtitle (which was lost in the previous version). More important, notice how the cover is now integrated. All the parts fit together. The cover looks designed. It looks like the publisher took some time to create a decent book.
Even his redesign of Beyond Knowing is better, although I'd still like to see more from the design (but George was only working with the elements from the real book cover and had nothing else to work with to make the design better).
To help you decide which cover is best, ask yourself this question: Which book cover would I pick up first? I guarantee you that at least 80% of book browsers would pick up George's covers over the original undesigned covers.
The sad thing is how many other covers in that issue of Foreword were as poor, undesigned, uninteresting, un-pick-up-able (that's a new word I've invented to describe bad covers).
Whether books reviewed or advertised, the covers were not retail-ready. Even New World Library, who normally does an incredible job of packaging their books, had two books reviewed that had flat, boring, uninteresting covers. What gives? Who was sleeping on the job? Not only with them, but with so many other small publishers as well.
Here look at the two covers from New World Library. Look at how flat and boring they are. Note how the elements for the cover seem to be unrelated. Notice the boring type faces. The way the photos just hang there. I've seen many, many self-published books with better covers than Beyond Knowing. Haven't you?
I asked for feedback on whether or not I was just having a bad night when I first viewed these covers. I called my book cover designer George Foster of Foster Covers. Well, he agreed with me. In addition, he agreed to redesign one of the covers just to help others see the difference between covers pasted together in pieces like the above and a well-designed cover. I like his better. Do you? See below.
Notice how the above cover highlights the main benefit of the book by showcasing the subtitle (which was lost in the previous version). More important, notice how the cover is now integrated. All the parts fit together. The cover looks designed. It looks like the publisher took some time to create a decent book.
Even his redesign of Beyond Knowing is better, although I'd still like to see more from the design (but George was only working with the elements from the real book cover and had nothing else to work with to make the design better).
To help you decide which cover is best, ask yourself this question: Which book cover would I pick up first? I guarantee you that at least 80% of book browsers would pick up George's covers over the original undesigned covers.
The sad thing is how many other covers in that issue of Foreword were as poor, undesigned, uninteresting, un-pick-up-able (that's a new word I've invented to describe bad covers).
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