Marketing Strategies for Book Authors

I have a friend who is a fiction writer. We were talking today about ideas for promoting a book she is writing. She writes in a variety of genres, but the book in question is in the ‘chick-lit’ category - at least that’s what she calls it. I came up with these suggestions:

Blog - This one is pretty obvious. She already bought her name as a domain and I set her up with a WordPress blog. The focus of her blog will be on the world of a fiction writer, with news about her projects and signings, etc. I recommend she actively write about the book and drop hints and teasers about the story to build interest.

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A-Z List Of Blogging Resources

Darren Rowse, at ProBlogger.net, has assembled an alphabetically organized list of resources for bloggers. There are over 120 resource links in the list already and he plans to keep adding to the pile as new things come along.

Pro Blogger is a great site filled with practical advice on making a living as a blogger.

The Go-To Guy

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Product Marketing and Analysis Resources

I recently wrote about a podcast I had heard that discussed a method for developing and selling e-books. This was not the ‘download my e-book, rebrand it, and sell it’ get rich quick approach. They focussed on identifying potential products, evaluating the potential market, market testing, and then producing and selling. It is a very systematic process.

Product evaluation and market testing has been high on my mind since I heard that podcast, so I started doing some research on the subject. I found a few very interesting resources. Links to them are at the end of this article.

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Increase Your Website Traffic By Joining The Conversation

When was the last time you had to join a new group? Maybe you started a new job or school. Maybe you joined a club or church. If you are anything like me, the process of getting to know people probably went something like this:

You showed up and talked with a small number of people at first - the boss, a greeter, the person sitting next to you. You talked about common interests and started the process of getting to know more about each other. At the same time, you started to listen to what the people around you were talking about. You gravitated toward the people you found interesting and eventually found an opportunity to contribute to the group conversations.

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Web Traffic: Getting Non-Reciprocal Links For Your Site

I got a great email today from web marketing consultant Dr. Ralph F. Wilson about getting non-reciprocal links onto your website. (If you are not famililar with Dr. Wilson, I recommend checking out his website and signing up for his newsletter.) He mentioned three ways to get folks linking in:

  • Write Great Content
  • Write ‘Give Away Articles’
  • Use Search Engines To Find Sites and Directories To Submit a Link

I’ve written about the first two topics before, but I have not written about the last one. So, how do you use search engines to find places to submit your site links?

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Make a 6 Figure Income Selling E-Books

Blogger Yaro Starak released a great 2-part podcast on his Small Business Branding site. It’s an interview with Internet Entrepreneur Daryl Grant entitled ‘How To Make $250,000 A Year Selling E-Books.’

They discuss how she sets up her sites, how the books are produced (she doesn’t write them herself), how she generates traffic, and how she writes the sales page copy to convert visits to sales. Her website also gives a thorough breakdown of her process: www.AndrewandDaryl.com. The site includes links to sample survey pages, a spreadsheet for calculating the profitability of an idea, and active e-book sales pages (surprise - not one of them is about online marketing!)

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The 3 F’s of Advertising Copywriting

Triggers: 30 Sales Tools you can use to Control the Mind of your Prospect to Motivate, Influence and Persuade.I’ll bet you understand my frustrations with online advertising. When writing advertising copy for the web you have to address the same concerns that a salesperson deals with face-to-face, but without the direct feedback or ability to adapt your words to new questions or objections. You have to anticipate everything before you start writing your advertising copy.

Master copywriter and direct marketing entrepreneur Joseph Sugarman, in his 1999 book Triggers, discussed and illustrated 30 different ways to motivate, influence, and persuade people when writing. It was an inspiring read. But, I had trouble getting all of those great ideas into my copy. Whenever I started getting traffic to a salespage I wrote, my results were zero. I couldn’t translate my knowledge into effect sales copy.

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Review: Zero Dollars, a Little Talent, and Thirty Days

While reading an article on Yahoo! about search engine marketing, I was introduced to the work of Jennifer Laycock, managing editor of the online Search Engine Guide newsletter. The site turned out to be a useful resources, but the real treat was the free e-book she was giving away. It’s not your typical web market e-book.

Jennifer’s new book, Zero Dollars, a Little Talent, and Thirty Days, is a compilation of thirty daily articles she wrote chronicling her efforts to start a new online business with no cash, and turn a profit. She made money - not the overnight millions folks usually brag about - but a real profit. I also get the feeling she’ll continue to make money from the site and be able to work less to keep it going.

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A Little Synchronicity

The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal GodOver dinner this evening, my wife, a close friend of hers, and I were talking about the phenomenon where single folks can’t get a date to save their lives, but as soon as they start seeing someone everyone starts flirting. I noticed this back in my single days and developed a theory - when you are single, nobody wants to take a chance with you because there might be a good reason why you are alone. But, when they see you with someone else, you’ve been vetted. Another human being has gotten close enough to see flaws and stayed. The mind begins to wonder, “maybe I missed something - I ought to take a closer look!”

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Google Tricks: Researching

Want to do some data-mining? It’s a great place to start when analyzing competition online. You can use a few easy search tool tricks and find a wealth of information about your competition’s website.
Type these terms into the Search Box Below:
  • site:YourDomain.com - shows all of the pages for a domain that are in the Google Index
  • link:YourDomain.com - Shows all of the sites that link to this domain
  • allinurl:YourDomain.com - Shows all pages that refer to your sites URL
  • cache:YourDomain.com - Shows the current Google cache of your site
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