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Wheatmark Wins Two SASIE Awards

February 26, 2009 by Atilla Vekony, Publishing Information Manager
Last month we briefly noted that Wheatmark was a finalist for this year's SASIE Awards. The results are in, and Wheatmark won two awards!

Presented by the Arizona Small Business Association, the awards "recognize and honor outstanding entrepreneurs in the Southern Arizona region whose innovative, enterprising approach to business deserves special recognition." In addition to being named 2009 SASIE — Southern Arizona Smart Inspiring Enterprise — Wheatmark also received the SASIE Spotlight Award for creativity and innovation.

And now we get back to work!

The Best Series Tip No. 5: Get Lots of Tags

February 24, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

The Best Series is based on a presentation by Wheatmark author James D. Best, author of The Shopkeeper, The Shut Mouth Society, and the upcoming release Leadville. Best has offered 10 tips on how to use Amazon to sell your book and we'll look at each tip in depth in a series of blog posts.

Tip No. 5: Get Lots of Tags

  • Customer Tags--Determines Hierarchy in Searches
  • Add every relevant tag, but only relevant tags
  • Get friends and relatives to vote for all your tags
  • Amazon Tags--Submit Relevant Tag Requests
  • Write a top-notch description

A tag is a way for Amazon to categorize your book. Adding tags that will help--and then getting several votes for those tags--will add weight to your book for Amazon searches.

  » Continue Reading This Article...

The Best Series Tip No. 4: Get Customer Reviews

February 23, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

The Best Series is based on a presentation by Wheatmark author James D. Best, author of The Shopkeeper, The Shut Mouth Society, and the upcoming release Leadville. Best has offered 10 tips on how to use Amazon to sell your book and we'll look at each tip in depth in a series of blog posts.

Tip No. 4: Get Customer Reviews

  • Get Real Reviews--People Spot Phonies

  • Ask Early & Follow Up--People are Busy

  • Make Sure They Like It--Otherwise, Mum's the Word

  • Manage Helpful Votes--Keep Selling Reviews on Top


When getting ready to purchase something, how do you determine whether the product is one of quality? Most people do research, they read up on the item and weigh the pros and cons from the reviews the item has received online.

  » Continue Reading This Article...

How to Make Money by Publishing a Poetry Book

February 20, 2009 by Atilla Vekony, Publishing Information Manager
Here's the honest truth about publishing a poetry book for financial gain: poetry is likely the most difficult genre to market, so it is a very difficult way to make money. Frankly, there are better ways to make money than by publishing a book, but publishing a poetry book in most cases is definitely an expense, not an investment.

Unless, of course, you use your poetry book to make money a different way....

Let me tell you how to make money by publishing a poetry book:

I am thinking of my friend Mike Jones, a mortgage lender in Tucson, Arizona, who shared this idea with me over coffee as we discussed marketing ideas. In his spare time he enjoys making music and writing poetry and has talked of publishing a poetry book.

Does he want to publish a poetry book for financial gain? You bet! But does he expect to sell lots of copies of his book? Well, actually, he plans to give away copies of his poetry book for free to all his clients.

He will give it to people who already pay him money for his services.

Think about it. Let's say your realtor, banker, lawyer, business coach, mortgage broker, or pest control guy gives you a beautifully bound, designed, and written book as a thank-you gift for your business. The book happens to be a poetry book (but it doesn't matter what genre!), and was written by the person giving you this book. The back cover has a large picture of the person including a blurb that mentions what he or she does for business.

Because you value the service of this person, you will put that book on the shelf with all your other books. If you read it, great, but you do not have to read it, that is not the purpose of the gift. It will be forever on your shelf as a three-dimensional ad reminding you of your broker, realtor, pest-control guy, whoever! You will have a connection with him that his competitors do not have with you (his book on your shelf), and ultimately you will end up using his services more, therefore giving him more business.

That's a great way to make money with a poetry book, and smart marketers like my friend Mike know this. You see, they want to sell themselves and their services, not necessarily their book! Similarly, when you publish a book, especially a poetry book, think of ways to you can sell yourself, not your book!

If you're a business person and you want to be in front of your customers in a creative way (on their bookshelf), and you do not YET have a book written about your expertise, but you like writing poetry, what are you waiting for? Turn your poetry into a marketing tool now by publishing a poetry book!

The Best Series Tip No. 3: Publish a Second Book

February 20, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

The Best Series is based on a presentation by Wheatmark author James D. Best, author of The Shopkeeper, The Shut Mouth Society, and the upcoming release Leadville. Best has offered 10 tips on how to use Amazon to sell your book and we'll look at each tip in depth in a series of blog posts.

James D. Best's Tip No. 3: Publish a Second Book

  • Established readers buy second book, first-time buyers go back for first book
  • Amazon pairing helps sell both books and it looks professional
  • Build credibility
    Nonfiction: image of expertise
    Fiction: image of success

In order to leverage your marketing efforts, one of the best things you can do is publish another book! (Stop sighing and making skeptical faces. It isn't a gimmick. It really works.)

  » Continue Reading This Article...

The Best Series Tip No. 2: Look Like a Bestseller

February 19, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

The Best Series is based on a presentation by Wheatmark author James D. Best, author of The Shopkeeper, The Shut Mouth Society, and the upcoming release Leadville. Best has offered 10 tips on how to use Amazon to sell your book and we'll look at each tip in depth in a series of blog posts.

  • Look Inside (or Search Inside)
  • Kindle
  • Editorial Reviews Section
  • Profile Page
  • Customer Images
  • "Also Bought" and "Also Viewed

Now that you've followed Tip No. 1 and have an Excellent Book to distribute through Amazon, you need to make sure that your book looks like a bestseller.

  » Continue Reading This Article...

Grael Norton on Publishing Insiders Show

February 18, 2009 by Atilla Vekony, Publishing Information Manager
If you missed it yesterday, you can listen to Penny Sansevieri's interview with Grael Norton, a publishing consultant with Wheatmark, on the Publishing Insiders show on BlogTalkRadio. Click on the play button to hear the latest episode or visit the show's website here.



The Best Series Tip No. 1: Offer an Excellent Book

February 18, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager

The Best Series is based on a presentation by Wheatmark author James D. Best, author of The Shopkeeper, The Shut Mouth Society, and the upcoming release Leadville. Best has offered 10 tips on how to use Amazon to sell your book and we'll look at each tip in depth in a series of blog posts.

Best Tip No.1: Offer an Excellent Book

One of the first things an author must consider before heading into open selling waters is whether their book is an excellent book. An excellent book doesn't mean the next J.K. Rowling. It means a quality book. Have you edited, revised, re-edited, revised again, and repeated the process several times? Is the book professionally copyedited and then proofread? The editing stage is crucial and should not be skipped. If you plan on selling your book in competition with other professional-level books, you need to make sure your book has gone through similar rigorous editing that a traditionally published book goes through.

  » Continue Reading This Article...

After the Blog

February 10, 2009 by Kat Gautreaux, Account Manager
You've set up your blog, you've put up a post or two. Now what?

How do you find people to read your blog? And just as importantly, how do you find other blogs to read to help you generate traffic?

There are several ways. One is by hunting Google and blog rolls on other blogs.

Finding Blogs
Google has a drop-down menu of alternative search options. Instead of simply Googling, "spy fiction" and getting the millions of links that will come up, you can specify "blogs" and it will only show you blogs that contain your search phrase.
Another way you can look for blogs to read and comment on is by looking at blogrolls. A blogroll is a list of links on the side the author of the blog page you're on has added as favorites of theirs. As you develop your own blog, you'll want to add to your own blogroll. It is a simple way to provide other readers links to information that you yourself enjoy and it is a great way to find other blogs you may like from other people's pages.

Another way to find blog is to find a retail or organizational site that is involved with the topic of your book. More and more these days, these sites will also include a blog tab somewhere on the home page. This is another place to find like-minded readers as well.

Most comment sections of blogs make the commenters fill in a registry. As part of the registry there is usually a place to read the person's bio and find their blog or website as well.

By clicking those links, you can travel to new blogs and new places to leave comments and thus find a new slew of blogs to read and virtual friends.

How do you keep track of it all?
There are different ways to monitor your blog reading. You can simply bookmark them in your browser favorites, but that can get unwieldy and it doesn't let you know when there are new posts.

Most blogs take advantage of RSS feeds.

An RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication) is something you can subscribe to on a blog. The logo looks like this most often:


This will appear either along your browser bar or where you decide your feeds should go.

One way to collect all your RSS feeds and other Web feeds is to use a reader like Google Reader.
This is an easy way to see all of the posts to all of the blogs when they are put up. You can even add blogs to this that don't have feeds by adding the URL link to the reader's memory! Also, it's free when you sign up for a free Google account.

Just remember, to drive traffic to your own blog, it helps to read and comment on others. How many times has a stranger commented on your blog, you clicked on their name, and ended up at another blog? It's a great way to navigate your interests and a wonderful way to find other people that want to share and talk about the same things you do...including your next book!


Amazon Sells 500,000 Kindle E-reader Devices in 2008

February 05, 2009 by Grael Norton, Acquisitions Manager
So if you were thinking about putting your book on Kindle, that figure might influence your decision.

Increased book sales shouldn't necessarily be your only consideration when it comes to putting your book on Kindle, though. Wheatmark author James D. Best thinks you should put your book on Kindle simply because of the extra banner that Amazon puts on your paper book's sales page that advertises the Kindle, like on his book's page here at this link.

Jim is a great marketer in addition to being a great writer, so when he recommends something on the subject of Amazon, I pay attention. His point is that the Kindle banner makes your book stand out, and that this could lead to more book sales.

For the full story about Kindle sales, click here.

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