Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Bookmarks Help Sell Novels

Reads Like Murder - In Honolulu

Georgina Martin convinced three local Barnes and Noble stores to display her mystery, Reads Like Murder - In Honolulu. As a result, in a short time, she sold 82 copies.

51 copies were sold in one store. Why? Because she place 1,000 bookmarks in that store. As she noted, "The store had so many bookmarks they were practically giving them away to people."

As a result of the bookmark exposure and book sales, that store placed Reads Like Murder In Honolulu on the top shelf of the mystery section for more than three months, thus increasing the sales of the book.

Note: 1,000 bookmarks cost only 60.00 at http://www.overnightprints.com (recommended by the above author).

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Free interview with bestselling author Bill Quain

Listen in to the teleseminar I did with Bill Quain (bestselling author of Overcoming Time Poverty, 10 Rules to Break, 10 Rules to Make, and Pro-Sumer Power) earlier this evening. My free gift to you during this holiday season. Click here to listen in via the web or download the interview as an Mp3.

Click here for free listen or download: http://bit.ly/60YOwS

Over the years I've met many people who offer products and services that can help authors and publishers sell more books. During the past two months, after attending several conferences where I renewed many friendships, I realized that I should introduce these people to readers of my newsletter and customers of Open Horizons.

So I'm hosting a weekly teleseminar where I will interview someone I think you should know - 1. Because you will learn some useful tips from them and 2. because they offer a service or product I think might help you market your books more effectively. The primary purpose of the teleseminars will be to teach you practical and effective book marketing tips.

This series of teleseminars takes place every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. Pacific. If you can make the live teleseminars, you'll be able to ask questions. But every teleseminar will be available for you to listen to any time during the next two years (or to download as an Mp3).

Here are the first few people I'm featuring in this series . . .

COMING NEXT . . .

December 30th - Jeanne Hurlbert and Joan Stewart, founders of MySocialMediaExpert.com and MySocialNetworkExpert.com.

January 5th - Mark Victor Hanson, bestselling co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series as well as founder of the Mega Book Marketing Universities. Has sold over 157 million books worldwide. His newest venture is WealthyWritersWisdom.com. Special day (Tuesday) and time (6:00 p.m. Eastern).

January 6th - Rick Frishman, co-founder of Planned TV Arts, president of Morgan James Publishing, and creator of the Author 101 Universities.

January 13th - Brad Walton, radio personality, media consultant, author, and speaker. Founder of AuthorConversations.com and author of How Does the Heart Know Love?

January 20th - Frank Marquette, director of Light Box Trailers. He will talk about how authors can promote their books with video.

January 27th - Joel Bauer, founder of Infotainer.com.

February 10th - Dharmesh Shah, founder and CTO of HubSpot and developer of Book.Grader.com.

February 24th - Sharon Williams, founder of The 24 Hour Secretary and the International Association of Virtual Author Assistants.

March 10th - Kathi Dunn and Ron "Hobie" Hobart, book cover designers with Dunn & Associates Design. Book covers are marketing tools that impact the success of books.

March 17th - Jackie Lapin, founder of Life Wisdom Network and TheArtOfConsciousCreation.com.

March 24th - Alex Carroll, creator of the RadioPublicity.com program and guest on over 1,200 radio shows during the past ten years.

April 7th - Michelle Tennant Nicholson, founder of Wasabi Publicity, PitchRate.com, PublicityResults.com, and StorytellerToTheMedia.com.

April 28th - Joanna Penn, creator of the Author 2.0 Blueprint and The Creative Penn blog on writing and publishing.

For a list of the other upcoming seminars, see http://www.bookmarket.com/friendsteleseminars.htm

If you'd like to take part in this incredible series of teleseminars (there will be at least 52 of them), you can sign up for less than $1 per seminar by clicking here: http://bit.ly/jwu6K (that's $37 total for a year's worth of money-making seminars for you!).

Again, the next teleseminar is Wednesday, December 23rd, so sign up soon. Each teleseminar will start at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and last no more than one hour. And there will be time for you to ask questions of me as well as my guest.

Sign up now by clicking here: http://bit.ly/jwu6K.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Literary Agents Will Be Around for a Long, Long Time

Jeff Rivera of JeffRivera.com asked me the following question yesterday: With the publishing industry undergoing the digital revolution, will there be literary agents in the next 5-10 years? And if so, how will their role be affected or changed in the near future because of devices such as the Kindle and the Nook?

Here is my answer:

I think there will always be a place for agents and mainstream publishers.

Even with Kindle and Nook, books still need to be promoted to sell. That means there will still be room for good book publishers. And good book publishers need agents to help them find the best authors.

I expect the best agents to continue to prosper for many, many years to come. As with any technological change, the less capable fall by the wayside while the best continue to do well.



For those of you looking for a good agent, you can order my Literary, Foreign Rights, and Subsidiary Rights Agents directory for only $6.00 at http://www.bookmarket.com/orderform.htm. When you order, you can immediately download this directory as a Word document.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Online Book Promotion for Novels: It Works!

The following story was posted in the Book Marketing Success Stories forum at the Book Marketing Network: http://bookmarket.ning.com. I wanted to give Stacy-Deanne's story a wider circulation here on this blog. Thanks for sharing.



I gotta say ONLINE PROMOTION rules, baby!

For my last release, Melody, I worked (and continue to work) the social networks and online groups. It must have worked because I made back my advance in a few months! That's how I knew social networking was the way to go. I never did it much with my other books and my sells weren't as good as my third book. But, because I am out there more in the virtual world, my other books are selling more now too. I'm with a big pub, Simon and Schuster, but we all know that even with big pubs authors gotta work their butts off themselves.

The key to marketing and promoting online is that you have to take it seriously. You gotta put the time in everyday. I tell people all the time that they shouldn't just join online groups but that they need to participate on forums and become a true member. They can't just add folks and spam then expect to sell books. All promotion takes hard work. Some authors act like they shouldn't put in the time with online promotion but they should. You gotta be dedicated. The benefits I see from online networking is not just in selling copies either. I see this too:

1. Getting the chance to talk with and meet authors online I never would be able to meet. This way I can exchange promotional ideas and learn from them.

2. Writing articles that result in popularity as well as book sales.

3. Online marketing helps you build a steady fanbase much faster than the traditional methods.

4. When you do interviews or get your books reviewed on blogs/sites, they pop up on millions of other sites instantly bringing your work exposure as well as traffic to your own site.

5. Being able to talk with reviewers, book clubs, readers one-on-one.

All of this is promotion and promotion sells books. It may not happen very fast but if you keep it on going, you'll sell in the long run. Sometimes actual sales isn't the only thing to look at. Exposure and publicity can help build a career.

I have seen a bigger difference with online marketing than I ever did when I did book signings. I already plan to do multiple virtual book tours whenever my next release comes out. Online is also great promotion when watching your money and who isn't these days?

For more about Stacy Deanne's novels, see http://www.stacy-deanne.net/works.htm.

Blog Tour Palooza

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Is It All About Business Exchange?

The following article is excerpted from Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media But Were Afraid to Ask by Hillary J.M. Topper



BusinessWeek Exchange is one of the most inventive, creative ideas to come along in a long time. It takes the idea of user in user-generated content and does something really interesting with it. It brings companies into the fold as users – presenting a unique and potentially controversial way of looking at contributed content. I believe we won’t see the full impact of what BusinessWeek Exchange - and others to come - will have for at least the next year and probably the next 2 to 3 years. I factor blog networks from Fast Company, Wired and the like into this, too.

They’re allowing CEOs (and other, usually C-level company people) to contribute to the dialogue as though they’re reporters under the guise of a blog. Again, authority and influence changes with the title of the person writing. That is, when and if the user - meaning reader - realizes it, which they inevitably will.

-- Jennifer Lindsay,
Director of Digital Services and Social Media Evangelist

BusinessWeek magazine has the right approach. Since they know the value of social networking, they created Business Exchange where business people can connect with one another. Interestingly, when logging into Business Exchange, visitors can also view the top news stories on BusinessWeek, the magazine. You can save news stories to your home page along with interesting relevant news articles. This makes the site quite useful and helps BusinessWeek build a loyal following.

Business Exchange is arranged by topics. Topics are sorted by functional areas such as Business Law, Small Business Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. There are also more specific or timely areas such as the fall of Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve bailout of Bear Stearns and even the latest business strategies of Starbucks.

Business Exchange lets you bookmark business news, blog articles, tools and additional online resources to share with others. You can bookmark just about any format of online content including videos, tools and white papers. Readers can also comment on news items submitted.

Upon registering Business Exchange you set up a profile. Those who belong to the social networking site, LinkedIn, can import their LinkedIn profile sparing duplicate efforts of filling out yet another profile.

My 2 Cents via the author

I like that this site suggests people that I may want to include in my network. Through this feature, I actually met a business owner in India, with whom I regularly correspond. My connections are networked to people who post interesting articles attached to their sites.

Business Exchange also has links to Twitter, which is very helpful, especially when I seek to connect with reporters or business development people to grow my business.

I like that the site offers news feeds to interesting articles and blog sites that prompt lively conversations. You can also post an article or a blog entry as well. There are only business people on this site and it is relatively easy to network with people who you may not otherwise meet.

The only problem I see with the site is that it doesn’t have many active participants. It would benefit the site to promote to business owners on Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn and Twitter.

John's Comments:

Business Exchange is a great place to connect with other business leaders. My guess is that this site will become more active as business people discover it AND BusinessWeek promotes it.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Make Your Own Outdoor Display Sign

Here's a neat website where you can create your own church sign messages (or any other messages on signs). Check out the one I created below:



To create your own church signs, go to http://www.says-it.com/churchsigns.

With a little adaptation, you could create other signs besides church signs. Perhaps something to advertise an upcoming seminar, teleseminar, or other event.

Here's an example I created:



And here's another sign I created to advertise my publishing company's address:

Saturday, October 03, 2009

21st Century Book Marketing Event in San Diego

Join John Kremer, Jack Canfield, Arielle Ford, Mike Koenigs, Dan Poynter, Peggy McColl, Penny Sansevieri, Dan Hollings, Rick Frishman, Mari Smith, Joel Elad, Russell Bishop, Mallika Chopra, and many others at this incredible book marketing event.

I don't know how they're going to fit all the good info into 2 short days, but I know they will. Join us at the Catamaran Resort in San Diego on October 10th and October 11th. You'll be glad you did.



To sign up for the 21st Century Book Marketing Event at the beautiful Catamaran Resort in San Diego, go to http://www.mixiv.com/vp/60394/1917

(Save $200 by entering 200offspecial in the coupon code box.)

Here are 21 amazing things you will learn at this event:

1. How to use email bestseller campaigns to sell tons of books.
2. How to design a powerful social media strategy.
3. How to get others to promote you even when you are completely unknown!
4. The biggest mistakes publishers find in book proposals.
5. The types of authors publishers are currently looking for.
6. Why you MUST be on YouTube.
7. The important and vital role blogs play in book promotion.
8. How to find bloggers and contact them (and why!).
9. The most effective ways to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
10. How to plan and promote speaking events outside bookstores.
11. How to network with bloggers, publicists, and Internet marketers.
12. How to get your target market to follow you on Twitter.
13. Ways to integrate Twitter into the pages of your book.
14. How to use quotations in your tweets - and why!
15. Getting top producers and editors to take your phone calls.
16. How to use Wikipedia to market yourself.
17. How to use the Huffington Post to grow your blog audience and platform (and meet one of their key editors!).
18. How to automate lead generation with social media.
19. How to get #1 rankings in the search engines.
20. How to set up a blog in less than 5 minutes.
21. The importance of platform in marketing books.

And those points don't even count the things John Kremer will be teaching during this 21st Century Book Marketing event.

To sign up, go to: http://www.mixiv.com/vp/60394/1917

(Save $200 by entering 200offspecial in the coupon code box.)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Public TV: A Way into the Big Time

The following post is a reprint of an email newsletter I received from Mahesh Grossman of the Authors Team and author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger:



What do Elvira, The Food Network's Bobby Flay, and comedian Tom Green all have in common? They all started out on public access television.

PBS affiliate KTCA even picked up a program called Mental Engineering that started at SPNN, the public access channel of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

With more than 700 stations throughout the world, public access television is the easiest way for any author to get on the air virtually anywhere. (For a list, go here: http://budurl.com/nzx8). And if you create just one video, it will get multiple plays.

My local community television station, CTV of Santa Cruz (www.CommunityTV.org) will air a half hour or one hour show a minimum of ten times in the first month. If you create something short, they will air it even more often.

And they have three different channels: one for government related programs, one for educational material, and one for general material. So any work that can deemed educational in nature, which would include anything in the self-help or how-to categories, and probably even children’s books, will air on two stations.

The kicker is, they have to air anything of a non-commercial nature that any resident of Santa Cruz County brings to them. All you have to do is fill out a form and make sure your video meets their technical requirements.

And here’s the secret sauce: I can bring them ANY video—by anyone. So you could live in Zimbabwe, send me a video, and if I bring it to CTV, they will air it.

And if you bring my video to your station, at least in the U.S, they will put my show on your channel. So if you can get enough friends, relatives, clients and/or subscribers to bring your video to a community television station, you could literally have a national show.

You could easily create seven shows—or get one show to air in seven cities.

There’s another reason this is important. Video is already the future of the internet. According to Business Week, as far back as last November there were more video views than searches: 12.7 billion viewings as opposed to 12.3 billion searches.

So you should be making videos anyway. Why not use the same videos to air on your local TV station? Plus, your chance of getting a video on the front page of Google is 45 times greater than the odds of getting your text page on the first page of a search.

For this strategy to be fully effective, you need to have a reason for people to come to your Web site after they see your show. You could give away a special report, or fr/ee chapters of your book -- or if you are a children’s book author, you could give away some coloring book pages with images of your main character.

(By the way, this is a killer strategy for children’s book authors. Do a show reading your book, and get it to air everywhere. Or team up with two other children’s book authors for a show, and use everybody’s connections to get the
show on the air in as many locations as you possibly can!)

Once you know a show will air, call up the bookstores in the area and make sure they carry your book.

You could even promote a bookstore appearance this way -- then tape your appearance at the bookstore and put that on television. Some of these shows air for years—which could mean continuous sales for your book anywhere your show is on.

And if you dream of getting your own TV show, community access could be a good beginning. If you make the leap to a major cable or broadcast show, you wouldn’t be the first.

As a publicist once said to me, “Things lead to things.”

=====

Check out Mahesh Grossman's blog at http://www.authorsmbablog.com. You can also sign up for his free e-newsletter there.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Red Hot Special Savings: Ten Million Eyeballs

Save $300 by joining the Ten Million Eyeballs self-learning course now. This Ten Million Eyeballs course teaches anyone how to get millions of eyeballs (that's impressions) via the Internet in the next two years. Learn the four major ways to reach millions of people via the Internet. You'll learn:

* How, why, and when to give things away free on the Internet

* How to organize and run an Amazon bestseller campaign that actually sells books

* How to create a viral video that gets millions of views, not tens or hundreds of views (Note: the average book trailer is seen by 65 people)

* How to develop a viral website that people come back to again and again - and do all the work for you!

* How to create effective selling relationships with major websites

* 35 ways to profit from the Internet. Book sales are just one of those ways. You can multiply your income by turning your book into a variety of products and services.

Sign up now at http://www.TenMillionEyeballs.com red hot special. Don't waste another day. Do it now!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Neat Story: Simple Website Monetization Idea



At the very beginning of this year, Jason Sadler started an interesting experiment: I Wear Your Shirt, a project where every day, Jason would wear one shirt from one company per day and post his image on YouTube, Twitter, Ustream, and more. In essence, he would be a walking, talking billboard.

He also had an intriguing price structure: He only charged $1 for a company to have him wear its apparel on January 1st, $2 on the 2nd, etc. until December 31st, where the price would be $365. While each amount isn't that big, it added up. So did the attention.

The result: He sold out every day and will make over $70,000 this year alone ($66,795 + other contests and deals). Jason just launched his 2010 calendar, and in less than 24 hours, he sold 115+ days.

Check him out at http://www.iwearyourshirt.com.

Video from August 17th:

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Get Real Followers on Twitter

Last week in my weekly newsletter I said that there are two ways you can get 5,000 more Twitter followers in the next four weeks.



1. Read my Twitter Mania Manual and do what it says. Download it for free at http://www.bookmarket.com/50Waysto Tweet.htm.

2. Pay me (John Kremer) $1,000 and provide me with access to your Twitter account, and I will add 5,000 new followers to your Twitter profile in the next four weeks. Note: This offer is only good for authors who have fewer than 5,000 current followers on Twitter. If you'd like to take advantage of this offer, email JohnKremer@BookMarket.com.

I am proud of all of you for taking the first choice above. I offered the second option because I was told that many people wanted hands-on help to follow my simply guidelines in the free Twitter Mania Manual.

Well, no one took me up on that offer. Note: It was a legitimate offer. I would have helped any author to get legitimate, targeted, interested, non-spamming followers -- 5,000 people who would have had a real and legitimate interest in the author's work.

I am glad that all of you took the first option, because Twitter is all about building real relationships. And those are always better to build yourself rather than pay someone money to do it for you.

If you would like my guidance and feedback while you do it yourself, I'd be happy to help. For that service -- one month of Twitter feedback -- the fee is only $200. But you can do it well for yourself simply by reading and following the advice in the free Twitter Mania Manual. Download for free at http://www.bookmarket.com/50WaystoTweet.htm

If you want my feedback, email JohnKremer@BookMarket.com or call 575-751-3398. Again, the fee is only $200. A bargain at that price.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Denver Seminar: A Success

My back-to-back seminars, the Book Marketing Blast-Off Seminar and the Ten Million Eyeballs Internet marketing seminar, were very successful.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Getting to #1 in One Day

The following note was posted by Joely Black, author of Amnar: The Awakening, in a forum on the Book Marketing Network (http://bookmarket.ning.com).

Amnar
When Amnar: The Awakening launched on Podiobooks.com, the only real promotion it received came from my blog and using Twitter (where I'm known as TheCharmQuark). Two days later, it was the top most downloaded audiobook, and today it's at No.2. This is very impressive as I'm going into negotiation with software and games developers and it presents a very good case.

Twitter has to be used in the right way to make it work, and I know it intimidates a lot of new users. If you're prepared to do the work to keep talking to your fanbase and build up a good reputation it can really work wonders for you.

John's comments: Online promotion can work. Even the minimal effort that Joely has done so far has resulted in sales.

You have to know what you are doing. Scattering effort over many sites, or not doing the right promotion won't produce the results you want. You have to create the right relationships -- with your partner websites as well as with your potential customers (or fanbase).

For more on that, check out the Relationships Matter Marketing Program

Sunday, July 19, 2009

How to Sell Your Book Locally

Here are two tips that Bob Sanchez shared at the Book Marketing Network (http://bookmarket.ning.com). I thought they were very good tips for helping you to sell some of your books locally.



One thing that's helped me is to always keep copies of my two books in the back of my car. Then when someone says "Where can I buy a copy of your book?" you can tell them they can get it from you right then and there.

Also it helps to have business cards with you advertising your book. One thing I have tried is tacking one up on any bulletin board that seems friendly to local businesses. Does it help sales? I have no idea, but it can't hurt, and the card costs me only a penny or so. Sometimes people will come up to me at a book signing and tell me they've heard of the book but can't remember where. Just getting your name and the book's title out there is helpful even when it doesn't result in an immediate sale.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

200 Copies of a Novel Sold in One Venue in 8 Months

The following post tells how one author sold 200 copies of a self-published novel in one venue in less than 8 months. Steve Miller, author of Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It, posted this story in a forum on the Book Marketing Network (http://bookmarket.ning.com).

I have a friend who self-published his first novel and has sold, in the past 8 months, over 200 books in a local (not chain) restaurant. A check-out person said, "Here's how I see it working: people are waiting in line to check out. One starts thumbing through the book. The person behind him says, 'I read it. It's great!' The person buys it."

Outcome: Maybe we should take a harder look at local, non-bookstore possibilities for selling our books. After all, there's no competition with other books in that restaurant. If someone's just finished a book and is looking for the next read, voila!

I recommended that he try to place it in similar restaurants (locally owned, where lots of locals eat) in nearby towns. He can tell the owners, "It sold over 200 copies in this other restaurant, making them this much money." Businesses are looking for extra income these days. If he found 20 restaurants that could sell 300 per year, he'd sell 6,000 per year.

Steve's recommendation to his friend is on target. If something is working for you, expand in that direction. Offer the same deal to more restaurants. Start local, then go regional.

200 copies is more than most self-published novelists sell in 8 months in all venues. Congratulations to the novelist for finding a good place to sell his books. Now he should go out and replicate his success.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Marketing Novels: One Man's Experience

The following post was written by Earl Sewell in a forum at the Book Marketing Network (http://www.thebookmarketingnetwork.com).

What’s working for me is setting up events where I have an audience. Also having an act when speaking to groups helps a great deal---for example, I write fiction, and instead of just reading the work, I turn it into a dramatization and get the audience to participate. The Call and Response method works great for me. This also helps me to sell myself as an entertainer.

Have Mercy by Earl SewellTwo weeks ago I did a book release party with a book club in DC. I ordered 100 copies of my book from my publisher and let the book club pre-sell Have Mercy. Since Have Mercy is an erotic thriller, part of the program included a lingerie fashion show. About 35 people showed up and when it was my turn, I put on a great show for my fans. The book club kept the remainder of the books and hand sold all of them for me.

During my book signing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, I asked a local book club there to join me at Waldenbooks. I asked them to wear their book club t-shirts and walk around the mall handing out my promo cards. They did this for me and for the first time, I got a crossover audience. The ladies, whom I’d known for three years, told every woman in the mall what a great writer I was and they came over. Some purchased books while others were just curious.

I also write Y.A. fiction. What’s working for me there is dealing directly with high school librarians. They’re always looking for great books to purchase for their students. I also do creative writing workshops and publishing workshops. I charge a nominal fee for doing this plus I get the schools to order the books at a discount from my publisher.

In addition I have a special website for my Y.A audience. Staying in direct contact with them has helped because they tell their friends about the book and then get them to join my website. I have contests and prize giveaways for them.

However, even with all that I do, I still can’t get my sales numbers to soar the way I’d like them to. It’s a very very tough market out there and getting a name brand to stick without a large marketing budget is no easy task. However, this is my passion and no matter what, I’m going to keep moving forward. 

John's Comments: Earl is clearly creative and working hard to promote his novels. Obviously some things are working. I love his go-to-it-tiveness.

Sunday, July 05, 2009

What Publishers Can Learn from the Web

The following post has been contributed by Caitlin Smith . . .

The internet has become a valuable marketplace for booksellers, a great community resource for readers, and an essential marketing tool for publishers. Successful ventures of all kinds have exploded on the web in recent years, from blogs to new formats for buying and selling media. Why not tap into some of these ideas for your own work? Here are some lessons that publishers can take from the success of the web and apply to their own practices.

Make reading a social experience. The internet creates the perfect environment to make reading more social. Online communities are great places to bring readers together and get them talking. One way to take advantage of this is to set up online book clubs and forums, letting these customers come together and enjoy reading as a group rather than just as individuals and letting them say what they loved about a particular book, basically selling it for you.

Use social networking for marketing plans. Want to know where the fans and potential audience for your author’s works are? Social media can help you create targeted marketing plans and organize book tours where turnouts will be significant. Whether you employ a social networking page or just track subscribers to an author’s blog, these tools can help you get a much better handle on where and how to market.

Find untapped talent. The Internet has turned out many celebrities in recent years that became successes from relative anonymity. Finding new talent for your publishing company may be a little easier if you monitor places like blogs, where humor, good writing and other important skills can come to light. Better yet, you can subscribe to blogs and follow your potential finds to see how they evolve.

Use electronic formats. These days keeping manuscripts in paper only format just doesn’t make sense. Using both print and electronic means to get your book out there can be smart and will allow you more flexibility in how you promote the material. Releasing small sections of the book to fan blogs and on your own site can be an excellent way to build up anticipation about an impending publication.

Make it to buy online. It’s estimated the Amazon’s Kindle format will sell millions of digital publications this year. As electronic books grow in popularity both in text and audio format it’s essential that you keep up and make your books easy to acquire through online means. Paper copies should be easy to buy from your site as well, increasing easy availability to whatever format your customers like best.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Teleseminar for Authors: Today, July 2nd


Tonight (Thursday, July 2nd) at 9 pm Eastern time, Alex Mandossian will describe how he JV'd with Jack Canfield, Donald Trump, Stephen Covey, Harv Eker, and others to create real value and generate income: http://budurl.com/ny8a.

In just 90 minutes, you'll learn how to market like a pro.

This special teleconference is designed for authors, information marketers, and small business owners.

Note: This teleseminar will cost you $20.

Alex Mandossian also has a clever way to capture emails and provide real help at the same time: http://budurl.com/xz25. Check out his website. His Ask Alex website is an interesting way to start creating a real relationship with people via the web.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Chelsea Green Launches Library Wish List Gift Registry



Chelsea Green has just launched a Library Gift Registry, which encourages librarians to select new books from the publisher's list and send their patrons to Chelsea Green's website to buy titles at a 40% discount and free shipping to designated libraries.

Peg O'Donnell, sales director for Chelsea Green, notes that "Libraries have been struggling in these challenging times, and this is one way we can help them stay competitive and current, especially with sustainability and green living titles."

Librarians who sign up for the program between July 9 to 15 will qualify for a raffle of $500 worth of Chelsea Green titles.

Check out their new registry at http://www.chelseagreen.com.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Barnes & Noble iPhone App - Neat Tool for Book Buyers



Barnes & Noble has just released a bookstore app for iPhone. This app allows users to "snap a photo to search millions of products. Using the iPhone camera, just snap a photo of the front cover and within seconds get product details, editorial reviews, and customer ratings--even find and reserve a copy in the store closest to you. The store locator will help you find the Barnes & Noble store nearest you, see upcoming events, and get directions."

For more details about the B&N Bookstore App, see http://www.barnesandnoble.com/iphone/index.asp?cds2Pid=27742.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Paulo Coelho's Statutes for Life

Here are some great observations on life from Paulo Coelho's blog. Neat use of the flipping pages technology.



For a larger, more readable view of this short flipbook, see Paulo's blog: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/statutes-for-life.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Book ‘Em, Danno. A Report from BookExpo America

The following report on the most recent BookExpo America in New York City was written by syndicated columnist Michael J. Herman . . .



In an economic environment where everyone is consciously wondering where and when the next shoe will drop, it is refreshing to see that things are not as grim in Whoville as they seem. Predictions for this year’s Book Expo America (BEA), which took place at New York’s Jacob Javits Center several weeks ago, were dismal at best.

Rumors of the show's imminent demise seem surprisingly premature. Godfrey Harris of The Americas Group, a Los Ageles-based consulting firm said: “In today’s new publishing landscape, BEA is becoming increasingly irrelevant.”

However, rather than downtrodden and gloomy exhibitors, and listless and apathetic attendees, BEA '09 has proven instead a vibrant and excited group of reinvented individuals. Well, many of them, anyway.

While the industry as a whole continues to struggle with its own identity, figuring out why it's a different world out there, and how it can get its archaic paradigms to fit into the new business models, others are embracing the new trends with gusto. By and large, the old guard continues to reign supreme. Brands like Random House, Simon and Schuster, Wiley and Bertelsmann dominate and are the bullies on the block, but the cracks in the walls are apparent to nearly everyone at the show.

No matter to whom you speak, the buzz is about the now ubiquitous transformation of e-books and the even greater rise in popularity of the small press and greater influence of the independent publisher.

Once thought to be a shear aberration, the e-book now promises to serve as savior to an industry that could be witnessing its own rapid demise. The fall of broad appeal brands like Circuit City and Mervyns foreshadow a dismal hope for longevity of niche retailers like Barnes & Noble or Borders.

The question should now be plainly posed: Can the book industry rely on the good graces of Walmart, Costco, and Amazon to provide the effective and wide enough distribution for books, music, software, and other media? Or will the only 2½% of the publishing industry represented by e-books and downloads be able to save us all? Consider the following when answering this question:

-The 2010 BEA will be cut from three days to only two days.

-The Trade Publishing Industry as a whole is experiencing what much of the economy is feeling, a seizing spasmodic choking of revenue and profits from all sectors.

-With the rise in popularity offered by iPods and other downloadable book readers, is BEAs necessary? And,

-How can traditional publishing models continue to succeed, when to survive in the new paradigms they must shift their models and give up what they have known to be stable? Can the changes work?

The change in the length of the show is a mistake according to industry video blogger Kurt Aldag of www.ireadnet.com. He has been pressuring the ABA [Editor's note: BEA is produced by a sister company of Publishers Weekly] which produces the BEA to change its plan from two days in the middle of the week for only industry folks to attend, instead move the show to Thursday and Friday for trade and open it up to the book buying public Saturday and Sunday.

“After all” claims the web TV producer, “the exhibitors are already there with books to sell. The publishers are there with their authors and the media is there waiting for interview savvy dynamos like Ben Mizrich, author of The Accidental Billionaire: The Founding of Facebook to wow them.” Besides which, the Frankfurt Book Fair, (the world’s largest and most successful publishing expo has well proven that this formula works.

According to publishing magnet Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, this expo is the answer to the industry’s woes. “This is where the most forward thinking thought leaders in the world come to convene for the single cause of publishing. There are no venues in the world containing more positive and motivated people fixated on creating a better world in one location than at BEA. These are the people and companies that know how to solve problems.”

Hansen’s optimism isn’t surprising. He’s built a virtual publishing empire based on the concept of things can always get better. The Chicken Soup brand alone has sold more than 800 million books worldwide. He’s even taken substantial steps to ensure the continued growth of the publishing industry and access to all by launching his own imprint Hansen House and the new web-based http://www.youpublish.com where even beginners can compete with Mark Victor Hansen.

But even with these new outlets designed to compete with Viacom’s massive financial brawn, or Bertelsmann’s global reach, consumers are tired of the old ways and things have changed.

Reid Tracey, with Hay House Publishing, sees the rise of devices like the iPod, iPhone, iTouch, and Sony’s new E-book Reader, are indicative of where the industry simply must go. “Readers are younger, more-savvy, more technical, more educated, more information-starved, and have shorter attention spans. They want it and they want it now.”

He’s right if you consider that the most profitable brands like Harry Potter, Lord of The rings, Twilight, and Jonas Brothers all target young readers.

More than 65 million Kindle e-book downloads have been sold in under two-years and the brands with e-book readers on the way, are betting big that this trend toward portability of content, and cheap accessibility will continue as far as the third eye can see.

The prediction by publishing industry guru Dan Poynter, author of The Self Publishing Manual suggests that the e-book will experience its next tipping point when big names, celebrities, politicians, and tent pole marquis authors choose to publish their big stories by e-format, and forego the prestige commonly associated with printed books.

This opinion is shared by tech publishing guru Yanik Silver of Surefiremarketing.com, who contends that at this point there is no reason to publish traditionally, unless your objective is to be at the mercy of someone with little imagination and an even smaller vision of what is possible. “Publishing electronically is the future and you simply can’t escape that fact.”

Observations Worth Noting at This Year’s BEA:

>> There was a marked shift in exhibitors to more book and publishing related booths and a clear decrease in the number of non-book exhibitors like toys, games, music, consumer products, devices, and personalities.

>> Exhibitors consistently reported fewer qualified leads, but bigger orders and higher priced orders than last year. This is consistent with some other recent tradeshow studies.

>> The quality of titles of all kinds, small press, or by the major houses is the highest they’ve ever been. This made possible by the advent and popularity of digital printing.

If you really want to get the pulse of the book selling industry, buy a new book and read it. Do your part. Take a good book to bed.

Proving that the book publishing and book selling businesses are no laughing matter, even CBS late night talk show wise cracker Craig Fergusson has a new book chronicling his journey to American citizenship. When I asked Fergusson what the secret to his success in so many creative areas is, he chided and said, “I really don’t know.” When pressed a little more, he confessed, “I think I finally got comfortable with who I really am. When I let the world see it, the world wasn’t such a bad place.”



-- Michael J. Herman is a syndicated columnist and author of the bestselling Becoming The Complete Champion: One Motivational Minute at a Time (2003 Motivational Minute Press). Mike coaches authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs in the effective and systematic ways to build profitable enterprises. Mike can be reached at http://www.themotivationalminute.com.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Twitter, Facebook, etc. Changing Global Politics

This 17-minute video from Clay Shirky speaking at TED explains why Twitter, Facebook and other social media can change the face of politics in the world. Case in point today: the Iran elections.



While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Book Marketing 2.0: 5 ways you can use Web 2.0 tools to promote your book

This is a guest post from Joanna Penn, author and blogger at The Creative Penn: Writing, publishing options, internet sales and promotion...for your book.



It is an exciting time to be an author! New technologies in digital printing and distribution are enabling authors to publish online with print-on-demand and ebooks. Technology is also changing the way you can market your book.

Book marketing used to involve sending out physical copies to reviewers and journalists. You were generally marketing only to a local or country wide audience. You used a publicist because they had the relationships with people. The author was quite removed from the reviewer, the journalist or the reader.

Web 2.0 changes that. It enables relationships with people through social networking, blogging and instant messaging. You can now talk to journalists, reviewers and your readers directly.

If you build a relationship with someone, they are more likely to promote you, buy your book or want to interview you for a story. You can now promote to a global audience and sell globally through ebook retailers and online bookstores. Book marketing is still about relationships – but those relationships can now be online, and global.

Here are some Web 2.0 tools that you can use to promote your book (and the bonus is they are free!):

1. Use Twitter to find a journalist to target for your book/niche. Search for journalists on WeFollow and search.twitter.com. Listen to what they are tweeting about, Retweet them and get noticed. Build a relationship and then pitch. You can also set up a Twilert for your niche topic and you will receive a daily email with who is talking about it. Join the conversation and get noticed.

2. Pitch a targeted blogger for a book review. Don't just use book review sites as they are overcrowded. Pick a blogger in your genre who doesn't review books normally. Comment on their blog and get noticed. Get them some traffic by promoting them somehow. Build the relationship and then introduce your book.

3. Use your press release in multiple ways. Send it to the targeted journalist, but also post it on your blog/website media page. Then turn it into a .PDF and post it on Scribd and Docstoc, both of which are great for document search traffic. Put your website and free offer details on the bottom of the page and include keywords in the search terms. Then turn it into an article and post it on EzineArticles.com with your resource box for more traffic.

4. Use HARO to get notified of journalists looking for a story. This “Help a Reporter Out” service will sent you an email daily with all the stories that journalists are looking for. Have your press release ready to go. Research the journalist and story online as soon as you receive the email. Tweak the press release so it fits the requirements and you have a direct line to that journalist.

5. Record your book and submit it on Podiobooks.com. You can record your book with a basic plug-in microphone and free software Audacity. At the beginning and end of every podcast you can mention your website and where people can buy the print book. You can use the audio on your blog as a giveaway and network with other podcasters in your niche to get segments on their shows. If you can get people's attention for the hours it will take to listen your book, then you have definitely built a fan base!

These are just some of the tools available to you online for book marketing. Web 2.0 gives the power to the author, but you have to actually use the tools to get the exposure.

You have your book – now let people know about it!

There are many more ideas in the Author 2.0 Blueprint: How to use Web 2.0 tools to write, publish, sell and promote your book: http://budurl.com/tzz8.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Author Persistence Pays Off Big

Here is a story of author persistence I was sent by Claudine Wolk, author of It Gets Easier ... and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers . . .



While trying to get my book published through traditional routes, I developed a relationship with an agent. She liked the book but she wasn’t willing to take me on as a client. I asked why. She told me that my platform wasn’t big enough.

(I was pretty psyched that she was returning my emails at this point because her correspondence was more that I had received from any of the others in the publishing industry outside of form rejection letters)

I asked what an author platform was.

“Become an expert,” she said, “Get published in newspapers and magazines, create a blog following, and do some speaking engagements.”

After her response, I pushed my luck with one last question and asked, “If I do all of these things, would you consider me as a client?”

“You bet,” was her answer.

I took this little bit of encouragement and decided that I could wait no longer for my message to get out there. I decided to create a publishing company and self-publish the book. Throughout the process, however, I took the agent’s advice. I wrote. I connected on the Internet. I booked speaking gigs. I became an expert. As my book came into being, I did one more thing, I stayed in touch with the agent.

When my book cover was done, I sent her an email with the cover attached, “What do you think?” I asked.

When my title was decided upon, I sent another email, “How do you like the title?”

When my book was completed, I sent her a copy of the book.

Finally, after I sent her an email showing my Amazon sales ranking, she finally said the words I had longed to hear, “Are you looking for representation to have this booked picked up by a publisher?”

The rest is history. I’ve been with Verna Dreisbach with Dreisbach Literary Management ever since. Six months into our relationship and Ms. Dreisbach and I were signing a bona fide publishing contract with AMACOM books!

My book, It Gets Easier! and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers, will be released by AMACOM in June 2009.

After I had signed with her agency, I asked Verna why she had finally decided to take me on as a client.

“You did everything I asked you to do,” she said. “You would be surprised how rarely that happens with authors.”

This sounds like something I’ve read before by a famous book marketing guru. What’s that guy’s name?

-- Besides being the author of It Gets Easier ... and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers, Claudine Wolk is also the website owner of http://www.Help4NewMoms.com and a blogger at http://help4newmoms.blogspot.com.

Make Money Doing What You Love: CNN Interviews Gary Vaynerchuk

CNN interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk about his upcoming book as well as the ten-book deal he got from HarperCollins:

Friday, May 29, 2009

Friending Libraries: Why Libraries Could Become Nodes on People's Social Networks

Here's an interesting slide show on why libraries could play an increasing role in social networks. Wish the slide show had sound. So quiet. But interesting stuff here:

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Your Book

The following article was provided to me by Hobie Hobart, Partner, Dunn+Associates Design for Authors, Speakers and Experts (more details at the end of this article).



As an author or self-publisher, you already know what a book can do for you:

• Position you as the leading industry expert
• Establish your credibility
• Effortlessly attract your target audience
• Set you apart with an instantly recognizable brand
• Win the attention of publishers and distributors
• Consistently win more—and higher-paying—speaking and consulting gigs
• Create multiple streams of income with profit-building products ...

but none of that matters if you are missing the one most important marketing tool: a stellar book cover.

DID YOU KNOW…?

— Bookstore browsers spend an average of 8 seconds looking at the front cover and 15 seconds studying the back cover before deciding whether to buy your book? If your book cover doesn’t instantly hook their interest and eyeballs, and then convey the right message about you, your chance to make a sale is gone.

— And you don’t just lose the sale. You lose a potentially long-term, highly profitable customer. Most authors, speakers and consultants use their books as the introductory product in a funnel of increasingly expensive products and services. When prospects don’t buy your book, you lose the $19.95 sale—and the thousands of dollars they could have spent on your audio programs, seminars, and coaching/consulting services.

— Bookstore distributors carry book covers only—not books. How shocking is that?

— A whopping 75% of booksellers say that the cover is the most important element of the book.

— John Willig, president and literary agent of Literary Services Inc., told me about his agency’s “3-Second Rule” which they use in evaluating any book submission. If the cover doesn’t grab them in 3 seconds, they pass on it. Only 3 seconds!

Do you want a front cover and book spine which will practically demand that readers pick up your book for a peek inside, with back cover that captures their imagination and piques their interest, so your book goes straight to the cash register, not back on the shelf?

Avoiding these 7 COSTLY MISTAKES will result in a totally unique look and feel for your book which instantly appeals to the readers, clients, and gives you the results you’re after.

Costly Mistake #1

You consult with someone who’s had success with his or her own book. And you follow exactly what she did to a T. But what worked for her lone book won’t work with yours. Because every audience is different, and…what appeals to one group of people could easily turn off the next.

Costly Mistake #2

You may have heard some experts say that your book design, specifically the cover, doesn’t matter because customers care about the content, not how it’s packaged. Although content is important, books are different than other products. Most book buyers experience the book before they buy. And if everything about your book — from the graphics and colors used on the cover to the font and format used inside — doesn’t combine into a siren song which that mesmerizes book browsers, they won’t buy. True, you can easily put together a campaign to hit #1 on any online bookstore within a 24-hour period. But that’s fleeting, and artificial success. If you want to be a true bestseller, your book must be able to sell over the long haul.

Costly Mistake #3

You try to figure everything out on your own and end up making horrendous mistakes simply because you don’t know any better. For example, you seek input from people you know, like your spouse, friends and co-workers. They care for you and want what’s best for you, so it’s safe to trust their advice, right? Wrong! In reality, their opinions are useless. They aren’t your target audience so what they think, well, it simply doesn’t matter. If you develop your book to make your friends and family happy, you end up with a book which won’t appeal to your buying audience in the slightest.

Costly Mistake #4

Your hard work and study gives you an accurate understanding of the steps involved in the book publishing process but you don’t fully understand the timing involved. And because you don’t know how long things will take, you end up missing prime bookselling opportunities. For example, a shocking number of authors think they can go to press in November to bring out a book in time for Christmas sales.

Costly Mistake #5

You want control over your book, so you hire lots of individual vendors to be involved in your book’s creation and marketing. But with so many unrelated, inexperienced people adding their creative inspirations to your project, you end up with separate marketing pieces which don’t tie together in look or feel much like having a closet crammed with shirts, pants and jackets, but no complete outfits to wear.

Costly Mistake #6

You want your book designed and published good, fast and cheap. The problem is you can have only two of these three. The fast-and-cheap combo is very popular right now but it produces substandard quality and cookie-cutter looks — not a winning combination if you want to sell a sizeable number of books or if you care how the book influences your brand. You get a limited number of templates to choose from for your book cover. And if the company you select is successful at selling their services to other price-sensitive authors, there will be even MORE books which look like yours! Plus, these book production factories have no time in the schedule or room in the budget to slow down and pay attention to quality or your brand image. The bottom line is when you pay dime store publishing prices, you need to expect dime store quality books.

Costly Mistake #7

You don’t have the time or interest to handle the publishing details, so you enlist a friend, relative or a local designer to help. But that person doesn’t have experience in the book industry. You end up sinking several hundred dollars (at least) in a book design only to realize too late that distributors won’t take your book because the design doesn’t meet industry standards. Then you have to start over, pay double, and still end up with a garage full of dusty, unsold books. Here the bottom line is that you wrote a book and published it without knowing the industry’s guidelines—and you have spent time and money with no positive results.

About the Author: Dunn+Associates helps bestselling authors and first-time authors. Their mission is to help you avoid these 7 Costly Mistakes. Call Hobie now at 715-634-4857 or email him at hobie@dunn-design.com to schedule a free 30-minute consultation as a gift to friends of John Kremer. Hurry because this $350 value gift is yours FREE for a limited time.

For more details about their services, see http://www.dunn-design.com.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Dunn+Associates Design and Creative Services for Advertising

iPhone Apps: Big Deal - Are You In?

In March Sourcebooks unveiled their first iPhone app, Most Baby Names, based on the #1 bestselling baby names book, The Complete Book of Baby Names.

In early May Sourcebooks got approval from Apple for two more iPhone apps:



* Gruber’s Shortest SAT (http://www.sourcebookscollege.com/apps/sat-app.html), from our Gruber’s Complete SAT Guide, consisting of 18 questions in Verbal, Math, and Writing; and



* The Essential Law Dictionary iPhone app (http://www.sphinxlegal.com/articles/Essential-Dictionaries.html).

"The most important thing to remember is that you’re not actually in the book publishing business. You’re in the business of building authors’ careers and connecting those authors to readers. Be amazing! Books change lives." — Dominique Raccah, publisher, Sourcebooks

Monday, May 25, 2009

Don't Wait to Be Perfect

Perfect is the enemy of good enough. When your product or service is good enough, get it out, because cash flows when you start shipping. You’ll also learn what your customers truly want you to fix. It’s a trade-off: your reputation versus cash flow, so you can’t ship pure crap. But you can’t wait for perfection either. — Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneur and blogger

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Heart of Marketing: Love Your Customer



Judith Sherven and Jim Sniechowski, authors of The Heart of Marketing: Love Your Customers and They Will Love You Back, made a neat little video (not a viral video, just a neat little video) to draw attention to their book.



It's short (about a minute). Enjoy. They have a good message: Love your customers.

TrafficCafe's Guide to Getting Votes Like American Idol

Here's another great video from Jonathan Gunson. It's titled: Twitter TV Special: 100 million telephone votes proves the extraordinary traffic attraction power of American Idol . . .



Jonathan links



Jonathan's traffic blueprint sold over 347,000 copies of his book. His free download reveals how to bring a flood of traffic to your website. Go to http://www.trafficcafe.tv to download his free report.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Two Great Music Videos from Around the World

Stand by Me is one of my favorite songs ever, and this video version is tops. Incredible footage. Very moving. Take the time to watch it. You'll be glad you did.



Playing For Change: "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

And here's another by the Playing For Change people, called One Love. Neat. Also worth a viewing.



Playing For Change: "One Love" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Also check out Chanda Mama: http://www.vimeo.com/4402477 and A Change Is Going to Come: http://www.vimeo.com/4398164 and War/No More Trouble: http://www.vimeo.com/4396617.

I liked all of the above performances, but Stand by Me is still my favorite. Thanks Playing for Change!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Ten Million Eyeballs: Red-Hot Special Offer: Extended Until Wednesday noon

After paying taxes in April, I've run into a cash-flow problem and need some quick cash, so I'm offering my Ten Million Eyeballs online marketing course in a RED-HOT SPECIAL. For the next few days (until Wednesday, May 20th, at noon), you can sign up for the Ten Million Eyeballs basic course for only $197. But you have to act now.

Read all about the program here: http://www.TenMillionEyeballs.com.

To sign up for the Red-Hot Ten Million Eyeballs Special, click here.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The 30-Day Twitter Challenge

Recommend this blog post in a tweet, by clicking here
Note: You can edit the tweet before you send it out.



BookMarket.com's website Alexa rank was 169,425 in late January. On May 22nd, BookMarket.com's Alexa rank was 81,087! That 88,000 improvement was due to my Twitter activity.

As a bonus, according to Alexa.com, 24.7% of the visitors to BookMarket.com now come directly from Twitter.

If you have not yet joined Twitter, do it today. And be sure to follow me there via http://www.twitter.com/johnkremer.

Here are a few of the things that I've been doing on Twitter:

1. I actively sought to follow interesting people, especially authors, publishers, publicists, and Internet marketers. Many of them, in turn, followed me. I now have over 9,500 followers.

2. I welcome every follower with a link to my Twitter tools pages: http://www.bookmarket.com/twitter.htm.

3. I post at least 10 tweets per day. I always try to include some useful tips. Here are 126 Ways to Tweet: http://www.bookmarket.com/50WaystoTweet.htm.

4. I include three or four great quotations each day. These get retweeted more than anything else. People like to retweet quotes.

5. I retweet other people. That's one of the ways to build relationships via Twitter.

6. I actually read the tweets of other people. I don't spend a lot of time doing that, but whenever I scan the tweets of the people I'm following, I always discover interesting websites and blogs to visit.

7. I visit those websites and blog posts. I've written about 20 or 30 comments in the past month.

8. I answer people's DM and @johnkremer questions and concerns. Participating in such conversations is essential to good relationships.

9. About one in ten posts might point to a blog post or web page update at BookMarket.com.

That's the essence of my Twitter activity. It takes about 30 minutes per day to manage my Twitter profiles. The key benefit of this activity has been the incredible jump in the Alexa rank for BookMarket.com: an 85,000 jump in less than four months.

Now, if you don't regularly check Alexa rankings, you might not know how incredible that jump is. A 85,000 jump when your site ranks in the millions is nothing, but such a jump in the top 200,000 is unusual.

Alexa ranks reflect how many people are visiting a website. A jump like BookMarket.com has seen is incredibly dramatic. It means many more people are visiting BookMarket.com. Prior to my renewed Twitter activity in late January, BookMarket.com was hovering in the 160,000s for many months. No significant movement despite my other online marketing activities. The 85,000 jump has occurred over the past four months with the only change in online activity being the points noted above regarding my Twitter activity.

This is why I've been encouraging people to join Twitter and get involved. I don't know if you'll get the same results, but I provide you with all the tools at http://www.bookmarket.com/twitter.htm and linked pages.

Why not take a 30-day Twitter challenge? Join, spend a little time each day on Twitter, follow interesting people, make some new friends, grow your business (or reputation as an author).

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Six Ways Authors Can Promote on Facebook

This guest article from Dana Lynn Smith is part of the virtual book tour http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/booktour for her new book, The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/savvy_book_marketer/successful-social-marketing.html.



Many Facebook users never venture beyond their profile, but there are several other ways to gain visibility on Facebook. Here are some suggestions for getting the most from this powerful networking tool:

1. Be sure to take full advantage of the promotional opportunities on your profile page. Just below your photo is a small box where you can enter a concise description of what you do, including the title of your book.

The About Me box (under Personal Information) is a good place to describe your book and your business. In the Contact Information section you can enter multiple website addresses.

Post your book cover in your photo album or other application and display it in the left column of your profile.

Your Facebook profile must be registered in your real name. If you create a profile for your book or other non-human entity, you risk having your account canceled.

2. Facebook Pages are similar to personal profiles, but they are created for business use. You can create a page for your book, your business, or even one of the characters in your novel. People join a page by becoming a fan. More info: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

You may want to offer an incentive to join (or at least visit) your page, such as a free download, a coupon for one of your products, or a contest. Another way to attract fans is to set your page up as an information hub, offering links and resources.

3. Groups are a great place to meet people who share your interests and find new friends. Search for groups by entering keywords in the Search box at the top of the page and then clicking on the Groups tab. You can gain visibility on a group page by introducing yourself on the wall, participating in discussions, and posting your book cover, photos or videos.

Forming your own group can also be beneficial. Be sure to encourage discussions and offer valuable information such as free downloads and links to resources. You can direct message the entire group.

4. Joining relevant events is a good way to get visibility because you can write on the event wall and post photos. You can also promote your own live or virtual events by hosting an event. Info: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=413.

5. Facebook displays pay-per-click ads on most pages on the site, and ads can be targeted by age, gender, location, education level, relationship status, or keywords in people's profiles. Info: http://www.facebook.com/advertising.

6. In the Facebook Marketplace you can post a listing to sell your book. There's no charge for this service, so it's worth an experiment. Info: http://apps.facebook.com/marketplace.



-- Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides. Website: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/savvy_book_marketer.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

An Incredible Video

The following is one of those wonderful videos that really knock your socks off, making you wonder: How did they do this? It's a little over 4 minutes, but you'll be glad you watched it. Fascinating to say the least.



Notebook from Evelien Lohbeck on Vimeo

Thursday, May 07, 2009

The T-Mobile Dance: Another Fun Time

Here's another fun video with 11.5 million views in less than four months. Neat. Enjoy.



Thanks to @GarethHopkins for the recommendation.

Something to Brighten Your Day - Enjoy

Discovered this video via Tellman Knudsen . . .

I hope you enjoy it.



Sound of Music: Over 3 million views.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

How to Get Retweeted on Twitter

Recommend this blog post in a tweet, by clicking here
Note: You can edit the tweet before you send it out.

Here are two great blog posts on how to get retweeted on Twitter.com.

How to Get Retweeted by Guy Kawasaki: http://blogs.openforum.com/2009/02/18/how-to-get-retweeted

The Science of Retweets by Dan Zarrella: http://mashable.com/2009/02/17/twitter-retweets

Basic advice:

1. Ask to be retweeted. Say please. E.g.: Please RT or Please retweet.

2. Link to a great blog posts. People like to retweet great blog posts.

3. Post a funny joke or great quotation. People like to share jokes and quotations.

4. Post a list (or a link to a list). Lists are very popular.

5. Offer a freebie. Tweeple like to pass along freebies.

6. Share breaking news or timely content. The hotter it is, the more it gets retweeted.

7. Tweets about Twitter get retweeted. Tweeple love Twitter.

8. Keep tweets to 120 characters so people have room to add RT @username in their retweets. If you push to the 140 limit, people will have to edit your tweet in order to retweet it. Sometimes it's really hard to edit a tweet so it doesn't get retweeted.

9. To have people retweet any content on any page with your special message insert the following code to the top and/or bottom of your blog post, website page, or Squidoo lens: < a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=140 CHARACTER MESSAGE HERE">Click Here< /a>. Note: Eliminate the spaces between < a and < /a. See the sample below:

Recommend this blog post in a tweet, by clicking here
Note: You can edit the tweet before you send it out.

Here are some of the current retweets of tweets by @johnkremer: http://www.bookmarket.com/twitter-rt.htm.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Incredible Stop-Action Movie

This 4-minute movie must have taken a hundred hours to make. Incredible work. Beautiful. And amazing.



Title: Stop Motion with Wolf and Pig

Thursday, April 02, 2009

YouTube Videos: A Funny Series of Movie Take-Offs

I'm sad to say that many of these wonderful parodies are now no longer on YouTube due to the idiots at Constantin Film Produktion. These stupid, stupid, dumkopfs (they're German) consider these funny parodies as copyright infringement. Such stupid, stupid people.

Don't they know that these parodies are actually making more people aware of their Downfall movie, and that many people are watching or buying the movie because of the parodies. Dumb, dumb, dumb people.

Alas, this means that many of the YouTube links below will no longer work. Sad.

I'm not sure who did the first Hitler parody, but they are all funny. What a wonderful series of take-offs from a movie clip.

Twitter Frustrates Hitler As Followers Split (6,160 views):



And here's another using the same movie excerpt, but completely different content:

No Twitter for Hitler (38,249 views):



And a few more variations on the same movie excerpt:

Hitler is invaded by Mexicans (34,890 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dvio5W1gTU

Adolf Hitler - Vista Problems! (687,000 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExeyrNZwzwQ

KFC Nuggets get banned; Hitlers Downfall (11,296): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBdetQeZ3fQ

Hitler gets banned from Xbox Live (1,099,012 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfkDxF2k

Real Estate Downfall (1,644,472 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM

Somebody Stole Hitlers Car (808,392 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8dl4faCpJE

Hitler gets banned from World of Warcraft (2,405,926 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JF03i7NfIU

Hitler Superbowl (592,207 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_9UTvESBIc

Hitler's got the wrong bike (628,137 views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukAhlxl4hmM

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Children's Book That Has Sold 29 Million Copies



Eric Carle's A Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold 29 million copies over its 40 year existence. Better yet, merchandise based on the characters of Carle's books still sell $50 million every year.

Read the rest of his story in Newsweek here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/189230

Think and Grow Rich: Great Title, Great Story



Great story on how Think and Grow Rich got its name. Originally told by Jordan McAuley at http://www.celebritypr.com/marketing-media-publicity.

In the Success System that Never Fails, W. Clement Stone tells the story of how the best-selling success book of all time got its name:

When Napoleon Hill finished his book, it had the working title: The Thirteen Steps to Riches. The publisher, however, wanted a better selling title; he wanted a million-dollar name for the book. He kept calling every day for the new title, but even though Hill had tried about 600 different possibilities, none of them was any good.

Then one day the published phoned and said: “I’ve got to have the title by tomorrow. If you don’t have one, I have. It’s a humdinger — Use Your Noodle and Get the Boodle.

“You’ll ruin me,” shouted Hill. “That title is ridiculous.”

“Well, that’s it, unless you get me a better one by tomorrow morning,” responded the publisher.

That night Hill had a talk with his subconscious mind. In a loud voice, he said, “You and I have gone a long way together. You’ve done a lot of things for me — and some things to me. But I’ve got to have a million-dollar title, and I’ve got to have it tonight. Do you understand that?” For several hours, Hill thought; then he went to bed.

About two o’clock, he woke up as though someone had shaken him. As he came out of his sleep, a phrase glowed in his mind. He jumped to his typewriter and wrote it down. Then he grabbed the phone and called the publisher. “We’ve got it,” he shouted, “a million-dollar sales title.”

Sunday, March 22, 2009

How Do You Avoid Offending People: A Twitter Experience



I posted a tweet this evening expressing curiosity why so many people unfollowed me today after a particular quote. The tweet was as follows:

John's Tweet: Why did 20 people unfollow me after this quote? - Great minds have purpose, others have wishes. — Washington Irving, short story writer

Here are some of the replies and DMs I received in response to my question. Almost all the responses came within a few minutes of my tweet.

@johnmcginn -- That is unfortunate. That is a great quote.

@elidet -- Sometimes the trackers aren't accurate & other times people just add so you can add them, then unfollow you.

@transcribe -- Perhaps they realised they have no purpose or wishes?

@amous -- i don't know why they went but you'll Get RT from me

@minnieburley -- watching unfollows does not serve you...

@BargainHustla -- Don't know, I'm still following you. Good quote ...

@CathyBend -- Gee, I don't know. It's a great quote.

@whimsicalwalney -- Don't know if any rhyme or reason to some of unfollows lately. Had similar exp. What might u say on purpose 2 get ppl 2 unfollow

@TheStory -- lol perhaps you helped them find purpose?

@SandwichINK Probably they were spammers & you didn't follow them so they left? That's what mine usually are :)

@mmd1080 -- Guess they thought you were too anti-wish? I enjoyed the quote!

@kccaferadio -- Could be They WISH ya didn't Say it :)

@Smalltalkwitht -- I think there was a major gaffe on Twitters part tonight. Several had 20+ around 8pm - 9pm just quit + some were conservatives

@jessicacolon -- Maybe they are taking it personal.

DM -- That tweet came at noon ET on a Sunday. Lot of people hitting their computers then. So not the individual post per se.

DM -- Because it scared them - Thought is not enough - Focus and action achieve results - Some just want to dream.

My guess is that it was part Twitter glitch, part Sunday cleaning time for some tweeple, part spammers, and perhaps a little bit of the quote offending some people. Not sure why. You never know what will offend some people, and when you have 5,000 followers, you're almost guaranteed to offend some -- if they read your tweets. But you still have to be true to yourself and tweet with daring and purpose as usual.

Of course, if you don't yet follow me, you can follow me here: http://www.twitter.com/johnkremer

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Secret to Approaching Top People

Just had a question from an author:

Would you please tell me the best way to go about contacting these people via email? Should I direct them to my website? Am I asking for their mailing address so that I can send them a free signed copy?

My answer:

When contacting anyone, don't ask what they can do for you. Tell them how you can help them -- get more readers, satisfy the ones they have, build a larger audience, attract more people to their websites, sell more books, etc.

If you tell them how you can help them, they will look at anything you have to offer them.

Sending anyone to your website before you've given them a real good reason to go is useless.

Sending review copies, even signed, is also useless if you don't already have a relationship with them that will ensure the book gets read.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Be Controversial Says Tim Ferris, Bestselling Author



Several years ago at a Viral Marketing Conference, bestselling author Tim Ferris made these points on how to market via viral marketing:

Make interesting blog posts that elicit comments from haters as well as fans. For example, Tim wrote one blog post called Geek2Freak with before and after photos. His blog post made the front page of Digg (and so it got tons of visitors).

Another of his blog posts, called Marijuana Beats Blackberry for Productivity, made it to the front page of The Huffington Post.

If you want to market your book in a viral manner, you need to create a shitstorm of controversy.

Watch the 10-minute video here:



While you are at it, you might want to watch Tim's most popular video: How to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs Without Peeling (over 4 million views):

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Twitter Tools for Everyone to Create a Better, Easier, Quicker, More Effective Presence on Twitter

I've spent a lot of time lately researching, testing, and updating the following pages on the BookMarket.com website. They feature more than 150 tools to help you have more fun on Twitter, create more relationships, and maybe even sell some books.



Twitter Tools Home

Twitter Attachment Tools: Tweet photos, big posts, videos, polls, etc.

Twitter Away: Miscellaneous Twitter Happenings

Twitter Blog Connections and Advertising

Twitter Design Tools: Make Your Twitter Profile Look Better

Twitter People: Resources for Finding and Following Tweeple

Twitter Promotional Tools

Twitter Short: Tools for Shortening URLs (and Tracking Clicks)

Twitter Tools and Social Networking Tools

Twitter Trends and Tracking Tools

Twitter User Guides, Handbooks and Blog Posts

50 Ideas on What to Tweet

Please follow me at http://www.twitter.com/johnkremer

Google me: http://www.google.com/search?q=John Kremer

Incredible Interview: All About Book Marketing

On Wednesday afternoon, Janice Campbell of Words Matter Week interviewed John Kremer. The topic was anything and everything about book marketing. It was a great interview with at least 10 takeaway, do-it-now ideas for any author or publisher. You can listen to it here:

What Bookstore Sells More Books: A Revealing Story

New York Times bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer tells a story about which Barnes & Noble bookstore sells the most copies of his thrillers.

A Barnes & Noble national sales representative once asked Brad to guess which Barnes & Noble store sold the greatest number of Brad’s books.

Brad first guessed Washington D.C., since most of his novels are political thrillers. Not so, said the rep. Brad then guessed New York City. Again, a no. Well, Brad wasn't going to ever guess the real answer.

The true answer? The Barnes & Noble store that sells the most Meltzer books is located in a small town in Florida, just down the street from the furniture store where Brad’s mother works.

Now, that's word of mother!
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