MARKETING YOUR SUCCESSFUL BOOK

By Caryn Lazar Amster

Now that you have written your book, how does the outside world find it? Only 5% of the book effort is writing. The other 95% is marketing. Do you need a publisher? Publishers market you for only one to three months and often select authors who are good marketers.

To find a publisher, you probably need an agent who will want a sample chapter, an outline, a working title, three compelling descriptive sentences and your primary and secondary markets. No, everyone is not your market. Agents have valuable connections and the publishers they deal with support you by doing typesetting, copy-editing and cover design.

Or are you willing to learn the publishing business and become one of the 78% of self-published authors? Being accepted by an agent and finding a publisher is difficult for an unknown author. You may face much rejection and never find success. One author received 400 rejections before being accepted by a major publisher. Competition is fierce, with only six large and 400 medium-sized publishers. Over 86,000 publishers are small/self-publishers. A lot of people aren’t waiting to be discovered.

Self-publishing takes work, knowledge and financing. You need business and marketing plans and a budget. You can spend from several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the number of copies, pages and type of printing to produce a book. In the past, less prestige was given to self-publishers. Today, bookstores are open to working with them.

With self-publishing, you are in full control of the book, its contents and title. You keep approximately 70% of the profits instead of less than $1 a book publishers offer. You control, percentages, order fulfillment, promotion and negotiate your own movie and aftermarket deals.

I suggest using the Writer’s Market, an annual book providing information on agents, publishers and the places to sell book excerpts. You will need a good query letter, and probably an intellectual property attorney to help you negotiate the best deal.

Your marketing plan is critical to your book’s success. I feel the top 10 book marketing opportunities are.

• Advertising – Be selective and only advertise where your target audience reads.
• Cause-Related Marketing – Select a book related cause and donate a percentage.
• Direct Mail/Email Notices – Get readers to your website, your events, participating in contests, requesting your e-book or free chapter, subscribing to your newsletter.
• Events – Give informational talks at events. Signings alone are passé.
• Flyers/One Sheets-Flyers should describe what your book is about and why one would want to read. I include an order form.

Newsgroups – Become involved in on-line newsgroups discussing your topic.

• Premiums and Incentives – Look for premiums to enhance your book’s brand.
• Public Relations – Create a targeted media database. Check reference books with newsletter, catalog and organization contacts. Chase’s Calendar of Events provides thousands of promotional ideas. Create a media packet with a good headshot. Get interviewed, anywhere. The smallest radio or television station’s market could start a landslide.
• Reviews and Testimonials – Three to five monthsbefore your book prints, send galley (review) copies to newspaper and magazine reviewers. Testimonials are vital to your book’s success. Never pay for a book review.
• Website – Create a professional website providing many purchase options. Keep customers coming back and capture their information in a database. Get allied businesses to link to your site.

Books are sold in many ways. In 2003, the Wall Street Journal stated that over 15,000 stores in the U.S. are carrying books. Amazon had 35.9 million visitors in 2003. Online shoppers purchase at least one book. There is a lot of interest in reading and opportunity for you.

When I started writing The Pied Piper of South Shore, Toys and Tragedy in Chicago about my parents Chicago toy store in the 1950’s and ‘60s, I decided to self-publish. Now that I have finished the writing phase (5%), I feel I know my work best and can be most effective selling it. I keep the words of noted motivational speaker, Wayne Dyer, next to my computer. - “Don’t die with your music still in you”.

I wish you good luck with your book.

Caryn Amster is the author of the newest Chicago non-fiction book entitled The Pied Piper of South Shore, Toys and Tragedy in Chicago. It is a true crime memoir set in a Chicago toy store in the 1950’s and ‘60s. In 1970, a gang assassin gunned down the author’s father in his store. The story goes from Russian persecution to American freedom, from Hula Hoops to hit men, from murder to trial. It is the story of loss, survival and forgiveness.

For complimentary book marketing plan spreadsheet email caryn@CMAPublishing.net. Visit my book website at www.CMAPublishing.net. For additional publishing statistics visit http://parapub.com/statistics.