How to Market a Book: Tod Langley

Here on the Wheatmark publishing blog we talk a lot about how to market a book. Today we'd like to share with you some efforts of one of our recently published authors, Tod Langley.

Tod Langley's book, Prince Kristian's Honor: Book One of The Erinia Saga, was released in mid-August. In just two weeks his fantasy fiction book has sold dozens of copies and is on par with the sales of some of our recently released nonfiction books that had already established author platforms.

Langley has been actively scaling the learning curve of social networking and has found a few things that are working for him and I wanted to share some tidbits with the Wheatmark blog readers.

Website
Langley decided he needed a customized website and, after a few attempts on his own, decided to enlist the help of a designer. His site includes a blog where he's been writing about his experience as an author, a bookstore link, and other tabs that take fans and inquiring media to pages with lots of interesting information on them. Take a peek at it here at www.todlangley.com

Amazon
His book was released just 14 days ago, but he already has four excellent book reviews on his Amazon page. Reviews help bolster sales as they underscore potential reader's confidence that clicking the "buy button" won't be a mistake. Wheatmark author James Best uses Amazon to sell books and we've previously written a series of posts about his efforts on this blog. Check them out here if you haven't already.

Networking
To drive traffic to his site, Langley set up Facebook and Twitter accounts. Using the two social media sites, he's been able to provide links to followers and friends about new blog posts and other bits and pieces they might find interesting. You can follow him on Twitter by searching for his profile name TodLangley. On Facebook, you can become a fan of his book by searching for Tod Langley.

Tracking it all
Langley has been using Google Analytics to track the traffic to his site and see what phrases and keywords garner more hits and also to see where the traffic is coming from. GA is free and has tons of ways to track and view data.

Here's what he had to say about his recent finds:

Hi Kat,

Seeing something pretty clearly already. Nothing earth-shattering but the stats back it up on Google Analytics.

• Author website visits peak early in the week and go up and down til Friday
• Weekends have almost no visits.
• Since 60% of my visits are direct site visits - I know people are getting the address either through Facebook or Twitter rather than Google Search or Amazon or even Wheatmark - I'd bet my input into blogs, twits, and facebook anecdotes are driving potential business.

I don't get the chance to write on weekends because I am very busy with "honeydo lists" and then play catch up on Sunday nights once I get back to my corporate apartment.

• Until you get the word out enough that interest drives itself, you HAVE to routinely contribute things of interest to social sites. You also have to re-visit old conversations and often reference your author website because you get new followers daily that don't go back in time to see your old chats.

• There is a direct correlation between social networking and immediate website visits (within 1-2 days).

What Langley is doing is exactly what I try to get authors to do: create a hub (website/blog) with spokes of communication (Facebook, Twitter, forums) that drive traffic back to the hub and help turn the axle (Amazon/Wheatmark bookstore) that propels the vehicle (book sales) forward.

Visit www.todlangley.com and read his author blog for more tips and to follow his journey. The entry about his experience with the publishing timeline is a really good one.

I'm still waiting on the post where he congratulates Wheatmark, Hayley Love, and me for being just oh-so-awesome...

Wheatmark has gathered a lot of free information about publishing and marketing into one hand area of our website. Check it out next time you get stuck!

Meaningful Cover Images

So you've written a book, and the time has come to pick an image for your cover. Luckily, you know exactly what you want. The image you have in mind is eye-catching. More importantly, it's deeply meaningful.

That's great, right?

Well, maybe. The key question is, meaningful to whom?

Consider the following hypothetical scenario.

* * *

When you were seven, you got yelled at in school for not paying attention. Lots of kids laughed. The girl in front of you turned around and saw that you were holding back tears of humiliation. You thought she'd laugh too.

"That teacher's just mean," the girl said. She took off the star of David necklace she'd been wearing and gave it to you. "Here. Don't be sad."

You moved away the following year. But you always remembered the girl, and her gesture of kindness. And you always kept the necklace.

During your senior year of college, you noticed someone staring at you from across the quad. She walked toward you, smiling. It was the girl from first grade! She had matured into a striking young woman. The two of you began dating. A year after graduation, you were married.

But your marriage fell on hard times after the initial honeymoon period. You argued about everything. After one particularly bad fight, you stormed into the bedroom and started packing. Who were you kidding? You were never going to make this work. You took off your wedding ring and opened the top drawer of your end table, intending to store the ring there. Then you saw it. The necklace she'd given you so many years ago.

Suddenly the memories came flooding back. You thought about everything that made you fall in love in the first place. Her compassion. Her giving nature.

You put your wedding ring back on and resolved to work things out.

Now, years later, you've written a book about how to better communicate with your spouse. The book is called What Really Matters: How Couples Can Work Through the Tough Times, and you've used your own experiences as examples throughout. The necklace story, naturally, is key.

And for your cover image—one of your book's top marketing tools—you have chosen ...

Wait for it ...

A picture of the star of David necklace.

* * *

At this point, you're quite possibly enjoying a good giggle. That's because you aren't emotionally attached to the events that led our author to think the necklace image was a good idea in the first place.

If you don't see the problem, however, read on. Here's a conversation a Wheatmark account manager might have with this author.

Wheatmark account manager: "Let's talk about your cover image. Can you tell me why you picked this one?"

Author: "Yes!" [He enthusiastically launches into the epic tale.]

WAM: "Hmm. What a wonderful story! But your potential readers won't get the significance ..."

Author: "They will understand when they get to chapter 5. I explain everything there."

WAM: "That's great, but before they read it, you have to convince them that they want to read it. Also, the star of David is already loaded with considerable cultural significance. If you put that on the cover, readers will think What Really Matters is about how Judaism is what really matters, or about how Jewish people can have a good marriage as long as they let God into it."

Author: "Look, you don't get it. That necklace holds deep, personal meaning for me. It symbolizes the whole point of the book!"

At this juncture, it becomes impossible to press the issue without seriously offending the author. Account managers may back off when this happens, reconciling themselves to the fact that the guy will probably only sell copies of his book to friends and immediate family.

Now, back to you and YOUR book. After reading all of the above, there's a good chance that you still think your chosen image is pretty cool. People might not get the precise meaning immediately, but it's not as ridiculous as that star of David! Still, you start to wonder. Are you too close to this project to discern how your audience will react?

Here are two things you can do to gain a little objectivity.

1. Run your idea past the people helping you sell your book.
   
   Are you a Wheatmark author? Then your Wheatmark account manager is a great person to start with. Have you hired someone to do PR work for you? He or she is another good resource. Remember, these people have a vested interest in your book's success. If they're telling you there's a problem, you should listen.
   
   
2. Run your idea past other people who don't know you well.
   
   Your friends and family will probably already get your image's significance, so the "don't know you well" part is crucial. Ask acquaintances who have never heard the story behind the image. Throw the picture up on your blog (if you don't have one, you should) and solicit opinions there.
   

This book is your baby, and of course you want to be happy with how it looks. But what you ultimately need to care about is what your target audience thinks.

Because if they don't get it, they won't buy it.

Thinking about Book Titles

Over the years at Wheatmark, we've had a few titles come through that were either a mouthful that no one would be able to hold in mind long enough to order the book, confusing (careful about serial commas ... sometimes they don't read as a series), or just plain excellent.

I imagine titling a book is about as difficult as naming a child. You go through different iterations, bounce the names off of friends and family, and maybe even see how they look in print.

There are several things to think about when deciding on your book's title:

1. Does it make sense
2. Can buyers find it when browsing
3. Can it be read more than one way? Will it be OK if they read it the wrong way?
4. Can it be designed easily for a cover

Does it make sense?
This one seems fairly obvious, but let's talk about it anyway. Your title should be evocative of the content inside. If your book is about parent-child relationships and your book is entitled, "From a Great Height," that's great, but you might want to use a subtitle to help clarify what you will be talking about in the book.

Can buyers find it when browsing?
This is important. More important for independent authors because you'll be doing the bulk of your business online. OK. Here's the skinny: Unless someone knows your book title or author name and looks it up directly, you need a book title that can be found by keyword search.

If a potential reader is looking for a book, but they don't have one in particular in mind, they'll enter a search word on a site like Amazon. For example, if a reader is looking for a book on self-help, they will have a particular theme of self-help in mind. They aren't likely to enter in the term self-help. Maybe "get rich," "make money," or even "wealthy." If your book is about personal finance and has a title that includes those main words - rich, money, and wealth - you are more likely to have your book show up as an option for that search!

When titling your book, make sure the title, the subtitle, or a combination of both includes some easy to navigate key words to help potential readers find you!

Can it be read more than one way? Will it be OK if they read it the wrong way?
We have a Wheatmark title that can be read with two different inflections and results in two different meanings. Either way, it makes sense and pertains to the book.

However, that isn't always true. There are also times when a title may mean something but taken out of context is just plain wrong. This problem shows up a lot on Headlines with Jay Leno ... the unintended meanings can be a sticky problem. So have a few people read over it and make sure you aren't making an obscene joke by accident! (A memorable one from my newspaper days was "Military Gives YPG a Hummer." If you don't see the unfortunate joke, you definitely want to get someone else to check your title!

Can it be designed easily for a cover
I have been known to suggest changing a title simply because it would look better on the cover design. The look of your book cover is your most important marketing tool. The old saying goes, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." However, most people do, even if it is unintentional.

Too many words, too long of words or long words that sandwich little tiny ones are all difficult to design around. Your cover needs to be easily readable on the "thumbnail" that is displayed on web pages. Either the image or the title needs to grab a potential reader's attention. If your title is too long, it will limit the size of your font and of your image.

If you are a Wheatmark author and are unsure of your title, check with your account manager and they'll help you brainstorm some ideas to help you have the strongest title from day one!

Not a Wheatmark author but want to be? Fill out our Project Assessment Form to get started! You can also enroll in our free minicourse: 7 Steps to Self-Publishing Success on our home page!

New How-To Blog Tutorials

Struggling to get your blog site started? Read the instructions sent to you by email several times and still can't picture what we're instructing you to do?

We now have a video tutorial on our site that takes you through the Blogger.com process from very start to end. Screen by screen, click by click!

It's done in a handy four-part series so you can choose the section where you are getting stuck!

Check it out at www.wheatmark.com/tutorials

How to Market a Book: Clips and Articles

You have interviewed on TV, radio and in the newspaper. Now there is an upcoming magazine article for a local magazine scheduled to run next month. Also, you've been guest blogging on a well-known site for your genre.

You should make sure that you have all these great "clips" organized in one place.

Most websites for authors include a section that houses all their media appearances. Many authors also include their own articles they've written in this section, however, if you are a prolific writer, you may want to specify a separate section on your site for those.

What is the purpose of showing your clips?

• underscore credibility
• provides more information
• creates a place for author platform building, potential readers will get to "know" you by your interviews
• show your stuff: you've worked hard to get publicity and now it's paying off
  
• if you are planning on lecturing, you can show some of your workshops here
• interviewers can do background research on you

Having an area for your clips allows for easy access to them if you want to direct someone to them, it's a great way to show your credibility as an expert and author, and also says, "Hey, someone was interested in me! You will be, too!"

Also, it's better than a stack of clips and Post-Its on your desk that you'll "get to." Having the links, videos, and transcripts organized on your website creates and easy to use and organized warehouse for all your marketing results!

How to Market a Book: Story Suggestions for Media

Alternate title for this post: How to Make the Media's Job Easier So They Will Give You Free Publicity

When you think of the media covering you and your book, do you envision a reporter coming to your house, notepad in hand while you sit in your formal living room and they ask you about your inspiration?

If you do, you're going to be disappointed. Just like homes rarely have formal living rooms anymore, most media outlets can't spare the time for traditional, lengthy interviews. What they need is a quick and dirty idea about you that they can pad out with some details, a picture, and, if there is an event, the specifics about where and when it will be.

You can help your media staffer, and your coverage, by creating some easy materials for them to steal/crib/be inspired by.

Here are some items to consider:

• Fast Facts
• Backgrounders
• Story ideas and themes your book goes with
• Interview Q & A
• Additional resources list
• List of Events

Fast facts: Quick tidbits of insight a reporter can use to add interest to their story.

Backgrounders: By offering up research items, such as where you grew up, that you suffer from eczema and that's where your character's fear of rashes stemmed from, etc., you keep your reporter from having to dig. You can give them the info upfront and help them ask you better questions.

Story Ideas and Themes: Most reporters haven't read your book, and frankly, it's not likely they will. You'll need to clue them in that your book would be perfect for a Memorial Day package because your book is about war or soldiers. By creating a list of stories and angles in which your story could be presented, or maybe themes/holidays stories about your book would be good for helps reporters out. It helps them package stories together and you can be part of that story!

Interview Q & A: It works on Letterman. If you are going to be interviewed, why not try to be asked the questions you'd like to be asked? By making up a set list of interview questions and then answering them, you make it so that there is already background and structure before the interviewer even calls you on the phone! You can even work in all those mundane Q&A standbys like "What is the title of your book."

Additional Resources: Sometimes your book will be the jumping point of a piece, but, the media outlet may want to provide additional information about a topic. For example, say your book is about epilepsy. It would be helpful for their readers/viewers/listeners if they had access to further info and you can help direct them by anticipating this need and providing it. A simple list of books, online resources, and organizations is all it takes!

And finally ...

List of Events: Always provide the who, what, when, where, how much for your upcoming events when dealing with the media. If your story doesn't run for your first event, they may hold it for another in the future. Plus, many media outlets maintain calendars and will helpfully add your event to it. Always give them the information they need to help you!

When trying to get pieces done about your book or yourself as an author, remember that interviewers are on deadline and the more information you give them to work with and the less they need to probe out of you with questions, the more likely you are to have a great story come out that helps you sell your book!

How to Market a Book: How to Display Your Reviews

Blurbs and endorsements from readers are a great way to start out. You should keep them in one place--one document or on a tab on a website--so that interested parties can check them out. Always remember to get a name and title of the endorser.

What kind of people do you want to endorse your book?
The best endorsements, meaning the ones that will best be able to help you sell your book, are from people who are:

• knowledgeable about books
• knowledgeable about your topic
• already famous and have clout with audiences.

Recently I flagged an endorsement on a book to be downplayed because the book's topic was very specific about something like molecular science but the blurb on the book was from someone who's title may have involved "insurance agent." Unless that insurance agent is also the vice president of the molecular science club, his kind words of encouragement are nice, but not necessarily helpful to sell the book.

How can you tell if someone will be a help?
Consider if that same blurb writer hated the book, would it really make any difference? If not, then likely they aren't going to be very effective in persuading your audience even if they like it.

For example, if your insurance agent hates your book on molecular science because, "the book was incredibly confusing and the concepts were just terribly explained," and your book isn't entitled, "Molecular Science for Insurance Agents" my guess is that the negative review wouldn't help or hurt your market share.

What about newspaper/magazine/blog mentions?
A write up from a media outlet can help your book sales. A mere mention in an author roundup is pretty good. A full article about your book is great.

One of the great boons to clip cutting in the modern day is that you really no longer have to actually cut your clips. So many media services are online, you can easily link to the article on your website or blog.

If you are sending a printed version of your marketing kit, you can simply refer to the article title, media outlet, and date. You can provide a link, and few choice lines of the article, or maybe just a solid quote.

"The advances in molecular science are amazing and this book will help scientists better understand the atomic world."
Booked for the Future: Molecular Science in the Modern Day, Science Geek Daily, May 3, 2009 View full article at www.nerdlings.com

Don't despair! If your orthodontist wants to weigh in on your molecular science tome, the perfect place for her, your mother, and your uncle Robby is on Amazon. In fact, the more people you direct to give you positive reviews on Amazon.com, the better off you'll be!

How many should I include?
Only include as many blurbs of reviews as will fill a standard sheet or two of paper (and only two if they are lengthy endorsements) if you are printing them out and mailing them.

For your website or blog, you can list as many as you want. Make sure to list your strongest, most compelling endorsements at the top. Readers tend to skim and don't have long attention spans for information on web pages, so you really want to get the key ones at the top.

Another thing you do with endorsement blurbs is to pepper them throughout your marketing materials. Use them in your press releases to give a quotable point of view to your book. Put one on a contact sheets of images to help dress it up and give it even more value! It's a nice way to get positive remarks about your book in from of people without touching that "look how great I am" nerve.

How do I get feedback if my book isn't out yet?
Something we recommend for some of our authors is to do an Advanced Review Copy or ARC. This is an initial small print run of books created for distribution to reviewers. They have an "eyebrow" that marks them as ARCS and not for sale. This is how your potential reviewers can give you feedback before your final print run. With Wheatmark, we will simply do a revision on your book when you are satisfied with your feedback on your ARCS, and send the new version to print. Yes, it costs a little bit more, but for some books, it's the most intelligent way to begin author platforming efforts and to give reviewers a jump on climbing aboard your bandwagon!

These are generally treated differently than having a book reviewer request a copy of your book. In most cases, ARCs go out to a preselected group of reviewers the author has asked to look at the book.

Getting great endorsements and reviews may not, in the beginning, do much for your book sales. What they do is provide credibility to your work. Just like when you go on a job interview you have a resume but are also asked for references, your blurbs are your references. Amazon is a great place to direct friendly reviewers to help you broaden your author platform. When it comes to blurbs for marketing you want to stick with the best!

How to Market a Book: About The Book

You've got your contact information figured out, started writing press releases, gathered up some images to provide to media outlets, but what about the actual book?

With your book you'll want to have a tantalizing book description, a strong excerpt to draw in readers, information on where to buy your book, and also a "Review Copy" request form.

Book Description
Your book description should be well-written. Actually, everything you write publicly should be well-written. Potential readers will be making judgements about your book based on their experiences with your writing. So make sure to have your description copyedited by another person!

Your book description's goal is to convert potential readers into readers. By making your book sound interesting, without giving too much away, you'll be sure to lure in readers. Think about how movie previews work when you go to a theater. They try to build suspense, excitement, and a sense that a story will be laid out that you will enjoy. Use those same techniques to build a "must-read" book description.

Book Excerpt
Often authors are more than happy to give readers a taste of their book by offering up an excerpt from their book. This is a great way to introduce reader to your book and help them make the decision to buy your book. However, be careful not to give them too much! Choose a page or two from a key chapter that you think is one of your best. That's all you need. Some authors will offer up a free PDF of a full chapter from their book to entice readers: that's a great idea! But for a press kit, website, or blog you'll want to keep it short.

Online readers aren't often ready to invest the time it takes to get through a full chapter if they haven't elected to do so by downloading it. If you just have a page that continues to scroll for ages on a site, you're likely to lose the thing you want: them to buy your book. They are likely to just click on their next bookmark and move along to another site.

Review Copy Request Form
A form like this allows you to screen who is reviewing your book. There are lots of people out there who would be willing to take a free copy of your book under the guise of being a "reviewer."

By making your reviewers do a touch bit more work and also providing a papertrail so you know who is reading your book and where they'll talk about it, you make it easy to select appropriate reviewers.

In our free book marketing guide, we talk about figuring out who your core audience is going to be. You'll want book reviewers who are going to understand the genre you write it, who are read by those interested in books like yours, and who will help you spread the word about your book.

Here is a sample form you can take and personalize!

Book_Review_Copy_Request_Form.doc

How to Market a Book: Gathering Your Images

One of the key elements to a successful book marketing campaign, I believe, is being organized. Knowing what you will need and having it ready at a moment's notice.

Getting your images together in the beginning will make all your publicity efforts smoother as you roll them out.

You don't necessarily need to have printed versions. In fact, digital versions that you can email are preferable. You can always print out a digital version, but having to scan in a printed version when you need to email it to someone can be a real hassle.

For all your images, you should have a high-resolution image (300 dpi) as well as a smaller version that is 72 dpi.

DPI for the less tech-savvy means dots per inch and reflects the quality of the image (nearly all websites use 72 so they load faster, magazines and other print media need high quality images).

The following are the images you should include in your arsenal:

• cover
• author photo
• images from your book's interior if you have them
  
• candid shots - from book signings, award ceremonies, writers groups, book clubs, speaking engagements, etc.

Each item should be in an easily transferable format such as a .jpg or .pdf versions.

Having these on hand not only makes it easier to send them out to bloggers, reviewers, and other media outlets, but it also can help give you a leg up in the free publicity area. Having quality, available art makes you more viable as a story because you have something most media outlets need: something to look at.

Also, anytime you want to create a flyer, button, name tag, etc., you'll always have the images available whether you do the materials yourself or hire them out.

By having these images ready to go from the start, you'll be able to meet deadlines, get more coverage, and not have to fuss with technology or calling editors for the pieces when it really counts!

How to Market a Book: Press Releases

Press releases are a common, useful way to tell media outlets and other interested parties (book clubs, writing groups, etc.) about your upcoming title releases, signing events, and other important milestones.

Press releases should include the following elements:

• contact information at top
• headline
• dateline
• body of information
• additional requests information like website links

Here is the sample press release from the Wheatmark book marketing workbook:
samplepressrelease.pdf

You can also include a picture of your book cover or an author photo, bullet points of information, a list of upcoming events, and book purchasing information.

What should your press releases be about? They shouldn't just be about your book being for sale. If you can tie your book topic into a current event or holiday, you'll be in even better shape to get publicity for your book. For more about content, check out this previous post!

To get your free copy of the marketing workbook, sign up here!

How to Market a Book: Author Bios and Profiles

Next thing to discuss is your author bio and profile.

You may be wondering, isn't that the same thing? Ah ha! No! OK, yes. Sort of. See? That's why I have to write about these things.

Author Bio
An author bio is similar to the blurb about yourself you put on your book jacket. It is a short overview about you that should include, if nonfiction, why you are qualified to write the book on the topic you've chosen.

If fiction, you may just want to mention something about what spurred you on to write.

The key to the bio is that it should be short, a paragraph. Bios are used for some of the following situations:

• Captions on photos
• On blog tours
• For publicity materials like flyers
• Blog and Amazon profiles
  

Author Profile
The profile can be a much lengthier description of you and your background. A profile is where you want to do what my mom calls "brain dumping." Anything you think people might be interested in, educational degrees, certifications, how many pets you have, what area of the world you inhabit, your hobbies, etc. Your author profile will likely be used in situations like these:

• author interviews for background
• on your website or blog
• snippets may be taken to give articles layers

Credentials
One other thing you may want to list is your credentials as they relate to your writing topic. For example, if you've written a book about dealing with death and you are a psychologist, you'll want to create a list of all your licenses, certifications, whether you lecture or teach, and if you write articles. The reason for this is simple: your qualifications underscore how much trust your readers will have.

This is most important for nonfiction books. For fiction, you may be a certified Ford mechanic in your daily life, but if you've written a novel about a girl who wins a horse show after overcoming all odds, well, it isn't going to help sell your book. Now if you happen to be a horse trainer ... that's, well, a horse of a different color!

Keep checking in for additional posts about the "How to Market a Book Publicity Shopping List" Series.

How to Market a Book: Publicity Support - Contact Information

Many authors sign their proof approval forms and are waiting for their box of books to arrive, but haven't thought about the business of selling books. By writing a book and having it distributed to book retailers, you've essentially made yourself a business and your readers are your customers. By thinking this way, you'll realize there is a lot to think about in terms of marketing books.

One thing to consider early on is how you want readers and media outlets to communicate with you.

For example, do you want your personal email to be where you receive your review copy requests? Or do you want to set up a separate email account for messages strictly about your book? If people need to mail you things, do you want them sent to your home address? Many authors feel more comfortable using a P.O. Box for their book operations.

Also, if you are going to take phone calls, do you want them coming to your home line? And if so, is your outgoing message appropriate? If you are going to drive your marketing efforts to online retailers such as Amazon.com, you may not want to accept phone calls at all. Or you can choose to post the phone number for the Wheatmark bookstore for sales and only offer your email for additional queries.

There is a lot to mull and it would be best to decide earlier than later so that you can use the contact information on all your marketing materials and get your author platforms started!

How to Market a Book: Publicity Kit Shopping List

For many authors, for their first book or their fifth, getting their marketing plans organized can be overwhelming.

As authors you will need to develop a basic set of support materials for yourbook in order to market it well.

Wheatmark emphasizes using online resources, such as blogs and social networking tools, to help spread the word about your book. But we should take a step back and review what kind of content you'll want to have ready to go when the time comes.

When developing your publicity kit, whether it is printed versions you hand to the newspaper reporter or tabs on your website, there are some basic pieces you'll want to have in support of your book.

Here is a list, taken from our marketing workbook, that we recommend!

• Contact Info
• Press Releases
• Author Profile
• Book Cover
• Author Photo
• Additional Images
• About the Book
• Excerpt from book
• Endorsements/Testimonials
• Fast Facts, Quizzes, Background information
• Radio Interviews/TV clips
• Story ideas for media pieces
• List of Media Coverage
• Available Articles by author
• Suggested Interview Questions
• Additional Resources
• Book Availability and Purchase Information
• List of Events
• Review Copy Request Form

This week, check in with the Wheatmark Blog for some more in depth looks at the items on the list and how to best prepare them!

Using Social Media the Right Way

Social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook can do wonders for you author platform building.

Beyond just getting started on Twitter or starting your personal Facebook profile, it is important to use the sites to your best advantage.

Marketing your book on these sites is a great idea for several reasons:

1. It is a great way to drive traffic to your blog or website which in turn will drive these new visitors to potentially buying your book
2. It helps you find a community of other authors or people interested in your topic to share information with
3. Low cost. Most of these sites are free and may be more beneficial than buying ad space.

There are a few things to keep in mind though. One thing to remember is that these are social sites, not selling sites. If all you do is shout "Buy my book!" into the virtual world, you are not likely to make friends or sales. That behavior is the social networking equivalent to telemarketers calling you while you eat dinner. No one really appreciates that kind of approach.

What you should be talking about on Twitter, Facebook, and even your blog is what you are doing with your book. If you are editing your book, a great snippet to Twitter or to put on your Facebook status would be: "Editing my book on moose antlers. Moose antlers are hard. Editing is harder."

Later on you can post a tweet or status update mentioning that a section of your book on moose antlers is up on your blog and then offer the web address so that people can go check it out.

Is your book already out? You can talk about all the feedback your are receiving. Positive or negative. Negative comments that you receive and then share with others will often garner lots of chatter and often can help you turn a bad experience into one of community support!

Remember that these sites are for socially interacting with other people. Not a way for you to corner them with your sales pitch. If you wouldn't do it at a dinner party (or wouldn't want it being done to you at a dinner party!) don't do it on social networking sites!

For tutorials on how to get started on Twitter and Facebook, download the PDFs below!

TwitterTutorial.pdf
FacebookTutorial.pdf

Writing for the Market

Most authors write a book and then hope that it will be well-received.

What if you could plan for your book to be an in-demand source?

You can.

By doing some preliminary research before you sit down to write, you can scout out where there are literary holes in the market.

This is particularly important for nonfiction, but it also works for fiction. Getting ready to right that young adult novel about a young boy wizard and his friends? If you aren't going back in time and snaking J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter" franchise, you might want to consider a different angle.

Let's stay with that example. What is it about the Harry Potter series that is so popular? Magic, mystery, danger, wizardry, and a relatable set of characters for young and old readers.

Consider penning the next young adult novel with similar themes but taken from another angle. You can tie into the reading zeitgeist of supernatural fiction without having to compete directly with the unbeatable.

You may be saying to yourself, "OK, genius book publisher, what DO I write about then." Here is where it is pointed out that YOU are the writer...

As for nonfiction, this is a much easier task. If you are writing about a nonfiction topic, that means you are an expert in the area you are writing about. You are aware of the subject matter and what resources are out there. That means you know what is missing.

Here's an example of a market with an open niche: Riding equitation.

There are tons of books about horses, raising horses, training horses, riding horses, etc. However, there only about three books available in print about saddle seat equitation. Saddle seat is a very specific type of riding. If someone had the knowledge and resources to write a book on modern day saddle seat equitation, they'd quickly become a top seller for that niche.

This doesn't mean that you will become a millionaire. However, being a bestseller in a niche is a sure way to steady sales if there is demand for you book.

Just remember, no matter how nicely your book fills a niche, if it isn't a quality book--professionally edited and designed--you'll have a hard time convincing readers you're an expert and leading them to buy your NEXT book.