Learn How to Become Famous

We are doing a few major workshops for Small Press Month. We are hosting one of our biggest workshops this week.

Place: www.inspiredauthor.com (click the chat-room button at the top of the page.
Time: 7 - 9 eastern (come when you can)
Membership: none needed - just enter your screen name and enter


Katie Adams

Katie Adams is a highly successful grant writer. In fact, she obtained over $12 million in grants for her clients in only 3 months! She can help you learn how to get free publicity, money to promote your writing, and much more! If you want to become famous overnight, then be at the Inspired Authors chat on Friday night.

Katie has offered to host a 2 hour workshop to help authors promote themselves and their work, build winning PR campaigns, and launch their careers. Have your questions ready! She is also looking for cream of the crop writers for her new business venture. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime chance.

Authors must be well known even before releasing their first book. This takes a “presence” that is only accomplished by proactive marketing. If you miss this one, you will regret it.




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Small Press Month: Attracting a Fan Base

Attracting visitors to a website can be difficult. It goes far beyond putting your name out and giving people an invitation to visit your main website. They will not visit to join a newsletter or read your website.

There are several ways to get people to visit a website:

1. Share your space with Visitors. Let them tell stories, write a scene for your characters, join in a 'continued story' by adding a scene. Then, publish their work on your website.

This works, but only if you talk with the visitors. The web owner needs to chat with their members. This is not the business where 'if you make it, they will come.'

2. Offer Something Free. I have heard dozens of writers rail against the idea of writing for free. But, most of them never had a good fan base. I also know two authors who write 'extra' chapters for their books, extra stories about their characters, and other free stories. They offer these as 'read by author' for audio feeds and download, and in PDF form.

Most of these stories can be short, 5 pages long will equal a 5 minute feed. Then, ask the audience for feedback, to offer suggestions.

3. Help Me Write. This is another tool that will attract die hard book lovers. They love to offer advice and suggestions about the characters and settings. Many of them have situations that might flesh out the book. Even if their ideas are not used, story lovers enjoy sharing their thoughts and being part of the writing experience.

4. Let visitors post reviews, comment in a guest book, or participate in a forum.




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Small Press Month: Building a Fan Base Using Newsletters

The secret to building a fan base is to entice visitors to your website to chat in a forum and/or join a newsletter. It has never been easier to create newsletters. There are dozens of free templates on the web, and a few free tools. For those who have invested in Word Suite, everything you need is in the suite. However, I do not suggest keeping a mailing list in Outlook unless you save it to a backup disk or a third party backup service.

I decided to use my publisher to make this post. Publisher is a part of the word suite. I am currently using WordSuite2007. I made this email letter in 10 minutes, and launched it through Outlook from my publisher account.

I wanted to offer the post this way to show people how easy it is to release a newsletter to your members. You do not need a any expertise as a web designer, or mailing list compiler expert. All you need is MSOutlook, or PHPlist.com. You can even run a good program through Hotmail if you want to manually insert email addresses.

Marketing isn’t about putting your name ‘out’ to the world, it is about getting people to come ‘in’ to you. This is why a mailing list is so important.

When using Outlook or Hotmail, people can join your mailing list by emailing you. I do not suggest using yahoo as I've faced a lot of spam problems with yahoo.




How to Create a Mailing List with Windows Live Hotmail

To set up a group of recipients in Windows Live Hotmail:

• Select Contacts from Windows Live Hotmail's left-hand navigation bar.
• Click on the down arrow of the New button.
• Select Group....
• Type the desired group name.
• This name acts as a nickname when addressing messages.
• The nickname must be unique in your address book (a group cannot have the same name as another group or another address book entry's nickname).
• Press Enter.
• Drag and drop existing contacts from All contacts to the new group to add them.
• You can also go to the group and select New Contact... to add a new member.
  

With this tool, everyone who emails your ‘mailing list’ account can be automatically added to your mailing list.

PHPlist.com is free with many good webhosts today with a click of the button. I have used this service for years, and never once faced a problem. It is simple to add names, delete names, post a template and send an email.

There is a plug in for wordpress that installs PHPlist and sets a 'sign in' box that can easily be put on your template. There is no widget at this time, but the single line of code can be added to a template without risk of ruining something important or throwing out the formatting. I have installed this tool on a 3 and 4 column template, widget ready.

However, if you are totally new to internet marketing, and cannot FTP a file into your host (very easy) then you might want to try bravenet.com. They have a mailing list feature that is free for the first 500 members. I used bravenet for the first two years. I paid $5 a month to avoid the advertising.


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How to Cross Post to Multiple Blogs

I have only used a few of these tools. They are business tools - not toys. Of course, not everyone will work perfectly with every blog platform. The tech world takes it forgranted that people will think. They understand that they may need to play with tools to make them work.

Each of these tools has their advantages and disadvantages. WritetoMyBlog is browser based, nothing to download. But, you may need to play with the system to make it work on different blog platforms.




































Most bloggers are aware of the blog feed tools in Outsource, or http://writetomyblog.com/ (which only works if the blogs have an AP key. It also runs into problem if some blogs have a text, and others have HTML text editors.



Wordpress

There is a plug in called http://www.woprot.com/full.php . I do not know anyone who has used this tool. It is not offered free.





Wordbook lets bloggers crosspost their posts to wordpress through a mini feed:


http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordbook/#post-2142




Wordpress also has their import/export feature in the new versions. I am going to give these a try as soon as I upgrade some of my older blogs.


Another plug in is WorpressMU I found a blog with some good instructions on using this Wordpress plugin. Of course, this method of managing multiple blogs is very advanced, but hosting your own private community is great for anyone who can hack the admin panel - not hard for someone with an hour to read the tutorials/blogs on the subject.

I have used this feature. It does have some formatting problem. Most new bloggers learn which of their blogs are text, and which are html becuase one blog looks good - another has formatting problem. The intelligent thing to do is set up 2 accounts, one for HTML blogs, one for text. I also suggest not writing the blog first in Word as the posts pick up hidden code.





Windows Live Writer



I build all my blogs on two platforms, blogger and Wordpress. Microsoft has a new tool http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D85741BB5E0BE8AA!174.entry This tool works well with blogger.

Windows Live Writer is an excellent tool although it is now out of betta.






I am currently working with this platform. It has some great features, and the posts look good, but I haven't incorporated it to all my different blogs. Currently, I use Wordpress, Blogger, and Drupal.


ecto



















ecto is a rich desktop blogging client for MacOSX and Windows, which posts to a wide range of bog platforms: Blogger, Blojsom, Drupal, MovableType, Nucleus, SquareSpace, TypePad, WordPress, and more.


ecto is heir apparent to Kung-Log, which is popular among the Mac community. ecto lets bloggers write and manage entries for multiple blogs. Bloggers can compose entries offline and use extra features, including spellcheck, links, attachments, etc..


ecto for windows is $17.00USD. At this moment, I do not know anyone who uses this platform on windows so I cannot rate it.






MultiBlog 1.2.1




























This tool works for all blogger API tools. It is fairly simple to use, but may not work on all blogs. Drupal has API key capablitity, but the blog host must activate it - not all do.





Most blog hosts turn of this feature because people try to write in word, past to their blog poster, and then carry 'crap code' into the website damaging the serach engines robots ability to index the site.

Your Comments: I am interested in hearing what bloggers have to say about these platforms.





Writer's Online Courses
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Make Your Own Logo and Business Cards

One of the best ways to make a logo and a business card is online. The wizards let you design and redesign your logo and business card until it is exactly the way you want it to be. This way you can design a great business card - without paying a graphic artist $100 for their template version.

The wizard is easy to use. Just select a logo design and then click next. The images and fonts can be resized, moved, and realigned until the card looks like you want it to. In my card, the book was flat, and about 1/3 the size. I made it larger, turned it red, skewed it, and placed it behind the letters.

When happy with the results, then just check out and order your business cards.

March is Small Press Month – Author Signed vs. Inscribed

There is nothing more alluring to a book lover than an author signed book. They rarely care if the book is paperback, hard cover, or a CD audio book.

http://www.abebooks.com/docs/RareBooks/Avid-Collector/Mar07/ask-the-experts.shtml

There are special bookstores around the net designed to sell author signed books:

http://www.signedbytheauthor.com/
http://www.booksmith.com/collectibles.html
http://www.alibris.com/

http://autographedbyauthor.com/fiction.asp

Authors can even sell copies of their book ‘author signed’ on Amazon.com – just make sure that you include in the book title ‘author signed.’ Then explain in your blurb that you will sign a ‘personal copy’ for the buyer. You would not want to sell ‘inscribed’ copies here.

Many authors overlook the option of selling ‘inscribed books.’ These books are often given to people of importance in your life. A writer may offer to host a library seminar and ‘inscribe’ books to ‘the library patrons who supported my career.’

There is a hierarchy to book signatures:

1. Top is the dedication copy. There is usually only one of these.


2. Next, is association copies. These books are signed for friends and relatives of the author, people of note in the author’s life.


3. Further down is the presentation copies. These are signed to people who are not friends, mentors, family of the author. They still include a message.


4. Bottom of the list is a signed copy. Interestingly enough, if a book is signed it is considered sold, even if it is not.

One way to attract people to your events is to offer to ‘inscribe’ all copies sold at the event. Authors are often shocked to see how far a book lover will travel for the bragging rights to having a presentation copy in their library.

This is one way that writers can support their fan base. They can offer to ‘inscribe an association copy’ of their book to any ‘friend’ from their fan group who attends their seminars, or who orders the book direct from the author.

Book Value

The important thing to remember is that your book’s value depends on the signature value. If an author promises to sign an association copy for everyone – then the value is worthless.
There is a general rule ‘the more words, the better.’ This has always held true. When a book lover buys a book, they are buying a copy of the book. When they buy an inscribed book, they are buying a story, a memory, of a time they met the author.

Selling Books

Never underestimate the power of an inscribed book. Many authors have a book signing and feel they must sell their books at a discount. This is not true if they spend the day talking to people, making friends, and inscribing books.

Even an inscription such as “I loved talking to you at the ________ event. It was a great afternoon, and I hope we meet again.”

A clever quote is also valuable, as it gives the owner of the book a glimpse into the author’s life and personality.

First Edition

It is important to protect the integrity of your first editions. These are the ones you want to sign. That is why it is also important to put a date on the book, even if it is a scrawled 01/08.

Art Value

Each author signed book has an ‘art value.’ The selection of a pen should be vital. The author should also practice their signature. A poor signature with a blue Bic pen may actually devalue the book. A felt tip pen, and a ‘fine’ scroll font, will create a page worth showing to friends and jealous collectors.

Conclusion

Many people may think that author signed has little value today. However, most authors refuse to offer the public signed copies of their books. They may give away a few associate books, signed not inscribed, but the number of author signed books are actually diminishing in the market, retaining their value – especially if you become famous one day.




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Small Press Month - Seminar

March is Small Press Month. It is a great chance to use this ‘official month’ to promote your small press, your books, and your friends. Most of these events are great promotion for authors. They will help raise the exposure for small publishers among bookstores and libraries, as well as build author’s careers.

The Publishers Marketing Association has a list of great promotion events. There are a few things on the list that every author should be doing all year around.
Over this month I will expand on them and help writers learn how to use them to promote their work.

#3 Hold a How To Get Published Seminar

It may be late to get into the larger libraries, but small bookstores, small libraries, churches, and community groups are always eager to have an author give a how to get published seminar.

The trick is to create a fun seminar that encourages new writers. Tell them how small publishers support and train authors. Tell funny stories, interesting facts, and things you learned along the way.

This seminar should be more than a step-by-step guide to winning a publishing contract. Instead, it should be an interesting glimpse into your journey as an author.

There are two ways to hold an event like this. The first involves charging $10 - $20 for attendance. When doing this, you want to print out a ‘pack’ for the authors to take. It should include a sample synopsis outline, query, formatting guide, a list of ‘common mistakes,’ and a few pointers on how to talk to publishers. You may even want to include a list of places where writers can learn how to write good books, and a short list of publishers.

A free seminar will draw more people. You may use these events to sell tickets to a paid seminar, or sell signed copies of your book. A free seminar may be held in conjunction with other authors in your area.

Don’t forget to call the press and tell them about your event, when it is over ask for a ‘tear sheet’ of the article, as well as a link to the article, for your collection. Never host an event without calling the press. They may not always attend, but even if they do not print the article, a picture of you talking to the press is great ‘PR’ for your website and blogs.

Return to this blog daily, or subscribe to our RSS feed, for more tips and advice on promoting an author's event. All our suggestions will be easy to plan, and possibly 'free' to host.




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Authors Over the Years

The myth of the author's life has been carried through the centuries. We've read about the authors who were drunks, too many to list, and those who were sent to drug rehabilitation for addictions to an unlimited number of chemicals.

Then there are the stories of the fantastic lifes that authors live, jetsetting around the world. In fact, I know two authors who travel to exotic places so they are 'ready' when they get their first contract.

The sad thing is, this is not part of the world. A writer's life is more like the life of a secretary than a diva. It is important to keep your feet on the ground, that is why I suggest that writers freelance, to start becoming a part of the writing world, before they try to become published authors.

How To Make Your Writing Meaningful

Writing a book is a huge endeavor. It means someone has decided to dedicate a certain amount of time to putting words on paper. But so many people don't finish what they start. Maybe they've run out of ideas. Maybe they lost interest. Maybe they got hopelessly stuck. However I believe the core of all these issues lies in one thing: the writer doesn't know why he or she is writing in the first place.

All you have to do before you venture into the ever-tangled writing forest is leave a few breadcrumbs behind so you'll know how you got there and you'll know the way out! Lay them out by asking yourself the following questions about your work. Use them to challenge yourself, to get inspired, to put your writing front and center in your life. It's hard to get lost when you know exactly where you are.

What Do You Have to Say?
Here's another way to put it: what story are you telling? What is your point in writing this story or work of non-fiction? If you can't answer in a concise way, take some time to think about your message. It can be a huge one, such as a belief about how we all should live. It can be simple such as, "family is important". The big message in my novel was about the power of love in a family. I think I will always write about families because I believe the story of our families is the story of who we are in our hearts. I find the subject touching, challenging, inspiring.

As you think about your message, realize that ideally you shouldn't have to write it down. It should come from the core of your being and you understand it because it is a part of your natural thought process: it is who you are. Take another look at what you have written in the past because your message may be showing up already in your work and you haven't noticed it yet. This is the way August Wilson described the story that was at the core of his whole body of work: "I once wrote a short story called 'The Best Blues Singer in the World' and it went like this: 'The streets that Balboa walked were his own private ocean, and Balboa was drowning.' End of story. That says it all. Nothing else to say. I've been rewriting that same story over and over again. All my plays are rewriting that same story. I'm not sure what it means, other than life is hard."

Who Will Benefit from Your Words?
You will find the motivation to return to your desk each day when you think about what may happen when someone reads your work. Will there be women who can be healthier mothers because you are writing about battling post-partum depression? Will there be men who might feel closer to their fathers because you're writing the next Field of Dreams? When you think of your reader, it takes some of the pressure off of you because you realize the importance of getting the message to him or her. You think less of how you're coming across.

Are You Writing in a Medium That Best Suits Your Message?
I used to write poetry. I loved it too, but somewhere along the line I felt the things I had to say became harder and harder to fit into the confines of verse. I moved over to prose and never went back. I wrote for magazines and experimented with essays before settling into novel writing. August Wilson had written poetry and was working on a novel, but his talents glowed when he wrote for the stage. If you're having trouble completing a project, consider whether you are writing in a medium that is right for you and your message. Don't be afraid of experimenting with other forms. You can always go back to what you were doing before if it doesn't work out.

Step Down from the Soap Box
Writing is already powerful. The fact that people are reading what you write means they are already interested, maybe even absorbed, by what you have to say. You don't have to get up on a soap box and belabor your points to get them across. A simple story can speak volumes about the big picture if you let it. Mr. Wilson once told The Paris Review, "I think my plays offer (white Americans) a different way to look at black Americans. For instance, in 'Fences' they see a garbageman, a person they don't really look at, although they see a garbageman every day. By looking at Troy's life, white people find out that the content of this black garbageman's life is affected by the same things - love, honor, beauty, betrayal, duty. Recognizing that these things are as much part of his life as theirs can affect how they think about and deal with black people in their lives." Get it? Small story, big picture.

One Last Note
I know I'm waving the "big theme" flag here, but what I really want for you is for you to feel the passion of what you're writing. You may be passionate about a big message or you may be passionate about the simple question of "what happens next?" in your story (and you really want to know the answer!) Just connect with that passion and go with it because to me, this is how books get finished--when someone really cares enough to want to get to the end.

Sophfronia Scott, "The Book Sistah," is author of the bestselling novel, All I Need to Get By. If you liked today's issue, stay tuned for more because The Book Sistah also offers FREE audio classes, FREE articles, workshops, and other resources to help aspiring authors get published and market their books successfully. The Book Sistah, 230 South Main St. Ste. 319, Newtown, CT 06470 203-426-2036, Info@TheBookSistah.com

Tips on Choosing a Title For Your Book

How many of you have spent hours or days toiling over the title for your book? My first book, The Cliffhanger, was renamed probably six times before I stayed with the current title. Naming your book can be difficult, especially if the book will work as a sort of branding for everything else you do. Non-fiction books are often seen as a stepping stone to speaking engagements, product launches, and a variety of other business endeavors. In fact, the naming of a non-fiction or business book is so critical that a poorly chosen title can actually make or break a books success. If you're in the midst of picking a name, or planning future titles. There are some basic strategies you should consider before you finalize your book cover.

The name of your book must tell people what it's about. If you try to be clever and make them guess, your potential customer will just put it down and move on to a title they do understand.

Put the benefit right in the name - for example Chicken Soup for the Soul tells you right up front that much like a cup of chicken soup when you're sick, this book is going to make you feel better. If this leaves you feeling perplexed, take a moment to list five benefits of your book - once you have those benefits listed slowly but surely a book title will begin to emerge.

Think about all the different uses you might be able to derive from the name of your book. Is it going to be on your web site? Is it a stand alone book or part of a product line? Or is this book one of a series? Determining the exact uses of this title will help you define it further.

And finally, go see what the competition is doing. Spend an afternoon at the bookstore and see what titles have worked well for similar books in your genre.

Other Naming Tips Did you know that some words are easier to remember than others? Sound odd? Not really. Language experts will tell us that we just react differently to certain sounds. The letters K and P for example are what language experts call "plosives." A plosive is a little bit of language that pops out of your mouth and draws attention to itself. A plosive is a "stopper" in language. A plosive makes us pause for emphasis when we say it. The letters B, C, D, K, P and T are all plosives.

IWhat's especially interesting is that brand names beginning with plosives have higher recall scores than non-plosive names. Several studies of the top 200 brand names have made that point. Examples: Bic, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Kodak, Pontiac, etc.

If you've picked a title for your book or a name for your business or product line that is "unusual" - you might want to check the meaning first. That goes for foreign translation as well. Here are a few examples of names that were chosen without the proper research:

In 1997 Reebok issued a mass recall of their new women's running shoe dubbed "Incubus" - a savvy news reporter brought their attention to the fact that incubus means: "an evil spirit believed to descend upon and have sex with women while they sleep. Estee Lauder stopped short of exporting their line of Country Mist makeup to Germany when managers pointed out that "mist" in German is slang for "manure." Trying to be clever, The folks at Guess jeans placed the Japanese characters "ge" and "su" next to a model in Asian magazines, intending them to mean "Guess." But "gesu" translated in Japanese means "vulgar," "low" class" or "meanspirited."

Naming Tip! Stumped for a name? Try heading over to The Naming Newsletter. While this site is designed primarily for naming and/or branding companies, there's a lot of great information on titling strategies and tips that can translate easily to your book title.


Penny C. Sansevieri is a book publicist who turns authors into success stories. Get her free author marketing newsletter and insider tips at http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Promotion Begins With The First Word

Promoting one's work is the toughest challenge writers face. They are passionate about expressing themselves through words, but a lack of marketing knowledge can dampen their enthusiasm. If this is you, then continue reading - there is hope! The success of your work is influenced by that very first word.

You must consider the marketability of your work before pouring your heart and soul into your efforts. Explore your local bookstore to determine if your niche is too small or genre too large. Make sure your book will fill a real need. No one book appeals to all people, so know your target audience. Examine the competition in depth. Most book purchases are determined by either subject matter or the author's reputation. Do you have enough status to be considered an expert in your field? If writing fiction, will the hook of your story be powerful enough to make you stand out from all the other authors in your genre? Take all of this into account before passionately writing a book you cannot sell.

Tie-ins play a key role in the success of a book as well. Start asking yourself now - who would endorse my book? Mentioning specific products, companies, individuals and locations may garner endorsements if you do so favorably. A celebrity endorsement, whether from an actor, an athlete or another author, will greatly increase the credibility of your work. Do not forget organizations, non-profit groups or even political parties that might recommend your book or even use it for a fundraiser. The setting of your story might be of great interest to the people who reside there and in fact could be your target audience. Consider all of these aspects as you create your work.

You must also be aware of the length of your book. When exploring the bookstore, look at the average length of books in your genre. Will yours be too long or too short? Page sizes and fonts will vary, so think in terms of word count. Research your genre thoroughly and be aware of the maximum and minimum word counts. If you have set a deadline for yourself, be sure you will be able to complete the book within that time frame. A 200,000-word novel cannot be finished in just two months! Be sure to allow time for research as well.

The promotion process begins with the writing phase. If you do not prepare during this time, you may find it more difficult to properly market your book. Do not miss any opportunity. Write success into your book right now!

- Author & Speaker, L. Diane Wolfe, http://www.thecircleoffriends.net

How to Finish a Novel

I personally know dozens of writers who had their first novels published. Most of these novels had one of the following:

A strong premise that clearly challenged an aspect of society or the human condition in a way that was easy for most readers to understand.
Forced readers to ask questions about their own lives
Allowed readers to explore some part of humanity from the safety of their own home example how would I act in a divorce, can you change my mind on the death penalty are the worship of the divine and religion polar or synonyms is the cost of power and wealth really worth it etc.

These are not hard to include in a novel. There is no secret to getting published. All you need to do is finish your novel. Statistics show that 93% of everyone who starts a novel will never finish it. Only 5% of the finished novels will only be submitted once. This means that you have very little competition.

Outlines Help You Finish a Novel

Outlines are just guides. They are blueprints that will help you measure the quality of a novel idea. One of the best reasons for writing outlines, and keeping a journal, is to see if you get bored with the idea before finished.

I've heard writers say they don't outline because they loose interest in the idea before they finish. This is a dead give away that the idea is not good enough for a full length novel. A novel takes a lot of work. In most cases, it takes at least six rewrites and edits before it is ready to be published.

I know several authors who have written novels that sold well. They never lost interest in their ideas. I know for writers who sold every novel they ever wrote. All of these outline to some extent.

I like to outline because it lets me find and fix my mistakes before I start writing the novel.

An outline can be written on index cards. You writer your ideas onto the cards and then you can re-arrange them, improve them, fix problems, and make the story stronger - then I can write the whole story in about 2 weeks.

I can write a whole novel in a month, or about 200 hours, when I use an outline

Avoiding Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes is believing that every idea is worthy of a full size novel. That is why many new writes have a filing cabinet full of unpublished manuscripts.

Avoiding Rejection Letters

One of the main reasons why writers outline and preplan is to avoid rejection letters. Professional writers often write a novel every three months. They don't have time to write a novel that won't sell.

Are You a Real Writer?

The publishing industry has a voracious appetite. More than 26 billion dollars worth of books are sold every year. And, most authors only write one book then quit. However, publishers are desperately seeking writers who want to create full time careers.

This means that you can get your novel published. All you need to do is spend a few hours and develop your story idea into a full length novel size - and finish it.

Does Your Book Have a Website?

One of the newest trends at sites like myspace.com, and facebook.com, and gather.com, is to create a website for your blog. The website www.bebo.com has a 'book' feature built in that lets writers build a website for their book, feature it, and then link it to their bebo websites.

Not all free site hosts are equal. I have checked all sites mentioned above, and they all are searchable by google.

This is the URL of my book's website: http://www.bebo.com/The-Pledge

This is the URL of my profile: http://www.bebo.com/KatherineH75

You'll notice that the urls are not that good, so you might want to link them. To make the most of these sites you need to do a lot of promoting. Building links is a good way to promote, also, use the links in your signature line.

I created the site so I can write more about my characters. However, I am also creating a blog that is similar to my friend's. http://bloodstonecastle.blogspot.com/ If you want to see an amazing book website -then go to my friend's site.




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Should You Put Google Ads On Your Ecommerce Site

NOTE: I notice that most author websites have google ads. There are better alternatives, like commission junction, so I thought I would post some 'facts' about Google Ads.

One of the biggest debates in the ecommerce world is whether to post PayPerClick advertisements on a website, or not. Many sites are using video advertisements to improve the look and feel of their sites. Others are hoping that PayPerClick will offer a passive source of income, but this short-term thinking may cost the company serious profits.

The purpose of a PayPerClick ad is to take a visitor from your website and put them on another website. This person leaves before they ever see the host company’s squeeze page, buy-now page, or Social Networking tools. This means that a potential customer is gone for good. The problem is - the ads on the host company’s website represent the competition.

PayPerClick Passive Income

On one side of the debate is the idea that PayPerClick lets ecommerce businesses generate some revenue from people who were going to leave the website anyway. The problem arises when the website looks at the actual numbers.

It takes several months before Google starts registering clicks, even if thousands of people have already clicked the link. Even when Google does start registering links, they rarely register more than one half of the actual links. In many cases, Google counts less than half.

Then, there is the Page Rank Trap. Google only pays a percentage of the money promised, based on the site’s page rank. A site can build more than 10 000 inbound links and 1000 pages of content and still have only Page Rank 3, earning about .05% of Google’s promised payout. Many sites (non MFA - Made For Adsense) work for 2 - 3 years before they earn $100 a month.

A website can make hundreds of dollars a month from Adsense, as long as the primary purpose of the site is to generate PayPerClick traffic.

PayPerClick Traffic

Many ecommerce businesses sign up for a PayPerClick program through Yahoo or Google to generate traffic. While the search engine advertising companies promise that they do not favor their advertisers, it is foolish not to. They are only cutting their throats letting sites which do not use their ads to rank higher than the sites who do use their ads.

From this side of the fence, PayPerClick is a good deal, because you are the company stealing customers from the competition. However, very few PayPerClick programs give the advertiser control over sites they appear on.

Google does, to a certain extent. It is possible to visit a major competitor’s site, which generates millions more hits than your site does, and place an ad on their pages. However, this does not guarantee that these same people will not click off your website.

Rule #1 of Sales
The first rule of sales is to hook a potential customer. This means keeping them on the host ecommerce site, and encouraging them to click through the links until they reach the buy now page.

There are some crafty ways to do this. For example, make the link bar to squeeze pages and buy-now pages look like PayPerClick ads. Another trick is to lead people from one website owned by the host company to another of their sites, in effect, creating a big circle.

However, make sure that the main pages are optimized with no=follow code in the links. Search engines penalize this type of ‘black hat’ SEO trick. The no=follow code in the ads will prevent the search engines from penalizing the site.

Both of these tricks will keep potential visitors inside the company’s ecommerce sites.

Another trick is to use a ‘default’ internal search tool. Instead of Google’s search, use one that defaults inside the ecommerce network’s sites, instead of on the world wide web.

Keeping customers is the only way to increase profits, and retain customers.

How to Write a Good Author Interview

One of the most overlooked promotional tools at the author's disposal is the interview. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites who want to publish author interviews. However, they receive few requests for an interview. I believe the main reason is that many authors think only famous authors should do interviews. This is not true. An interview is for promotion, and any author who wants to become famous should start requesting to be interviewed.

A second misunderstanding is that, if you are interview worthy, you will have people ask you. Not true. Even movie stars have their Public Relations company's set up 'interview days' where reporters who are interested come and ask questions. Writers can do the same thing.

Another thing that many writers don't understand is that 'image is everything.' Most authors never give 1 hours thought to their image. However, image is the #1 difference between famous/bestselling authors and those who sell 40 copies of their book a year.

What is the Author Image?

The first thing an author needs to do is define what the 'author image' should be. The best way to do this is visit the web sites of your favorite authors. What do they talk about? How do they describe themselves. What are their interests?

One of the most overlooked aspects is the author photo. It should tell something about the author, and their image. Don't go to glamour shots or have your friend take a picture of you sitting at a computer. This one 'good' photo will sell enough books to make you famous.

Travel is a good way to interest visitors. The author should be someone special, and posting pictures of interesting places around where you live, vacation pictures of exotic destinations, and most importantly, images from writer's conferences etc...all these will validate your image as an author.

How to Complete an Author Interview

One of the biggest mistakes is thinking that people want your bio. This mistake is also made when authors are asked to write a short bio. This is not a resume. This is not a job interview.

No one really cares how long you have been writing, where you went to school, or whether you have a MLA. You can give this information, but do it in a way that is interesting.

Julie Garwood use to be great. "I get up at 4 am and write until my boys wake."

"I laugh when I think about my first book. I wrote it on an old laptop, and struggled over it for years."

Think about the verbs you use, and the nouns. Make them interesting. Also, write something. If the interviewer asks 'how many books have you written' then don't just answer 'one.'

"I have one finished, but my mind is always overloaded with ideas. I've recently started one that really touches my heart."

These are the type of answers that will help you build a fan base

What do Fans Want?

The most important thing to remember is what the fans want. Each genre has a different fan base who expects a different image from their writers. The image does not need to reflect the real person. This doesn't mean you should lie, but it does mean that you should highlight and expand the aspects of your life that fans want to know about.

Ray Bradbury often talked about writing in a dark room that was cluttered with interesting artifacts from around the world. He would talk about creating his worlds from the items in that room. The image this conjured up in the reader's mind gave life to Bradbury's stories.

Dickens is dead, but his PR lives on. Fans of Scrooge snuggle down at Christmas time to watch Alistar Simm's rendition of 'A Christmas Carol' with images of Dickens surrounded by his 13 children, writing away in a small cottage, while the injustice of humanity raged beyond the front door.

Don't Promote to Other Authors

One of the biggest mistakes I've seen authors make is by promoting to other authors. There are tons of author websites full of articles to other writers. The articles should be written to fans. Yes, writers buy a lot of books, but if you want to sell to other authors/fans, then don't promote your writing skill - sell your characters.

Ebook Publishers Who Will Make Authors More Money Than New York Publishers

Enspiren Press and Grace Publishing are not predominantly ebook publishers, in fact, we only stepped into the Ebook ring 2 months ago.

However, I know many authors who make more than $10 000 a year - and are 100% ebook authors. This doesn't mean that you can't get their book in print, it just means that they do not waste time trying to get their books into bookstores.

I am writing this post in response to trick fall's post about 5 big publishers who can offer an alternative to NY. The only thing I found 'twisted' in that article is that it makes it look like the publisher is the driving force behind book sales - - this has not been true for about 10 years. Authors sell books.

Grisham bought all copies of The Pelican Brief from the discount warehouse and sold them out of the trunk of his car. Anne Rice also spends most of her time promoting her books - most big authors do.

However, if you have a book and you want a publisher with major distribution and a proven track record, hen this list will help you. I have made 'bold' font any publisher that I can vouch for.

Publishers and retailers that contributed to the survey are: Abingdon Press/Cokesbury, Amazon.com, Inc., AOL Time Warner Book Group, Barnes & Noble.com, Bookselecta.com Ltd, Dell Magazines, Double Dragon Publishing, eBooks Corporation Ltd, Electric eBook Publishing, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc., E-Reads, Fictionwise (EnspirenPress is sold through this site and they do very well), Inc., Franklin Electronic Publishers, Hard Shell Word Factory, HarperCollins Publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company, Humana Press Inc, Laridian, Inc., Mind Like Water, Inc., Mobipocket, Mushroom Publishing, NUMILOG, OverDrive, Inc., Palm Digital Media, powells.com, RAND, Random House, Inc., Simon & Schuster, Spes Editorial, St. Martin's Press, The McGraw-Hill Companies, University of California Press, Walker & Company and Zondervan.

Remember that this is only ebooks - for example -

Company North American Sales (Books, Media plus cofee, etc:-)
Barnes&Noble / B. Dalton1 $4.61 billion
Borders / Waldenbooks $3.41 billion
Amazon Media (excludes electronics, services - books, includes books, music, DVDs) $3.58 billion (2006 was the first year Amazon outsold Borders in North America)
BN.com $433 million (Site also used to promoted stores)

Total Book Sales: $12.03 billion

So, if you go with a smaller publisher you want to ask them who they collaborate with. IE: Enspiren press collaborates with Amazon.com, Barns & Noble.com, Ebookmall, Moipocket, Borders, Target, and we are distributed through Ingrams and Gardners.

Don't measure a small publisher by the number of authors and books - or their contract.... ask about their distribution.

EPIC Authors

We belong to one author's association - EPICAuthors. This doesn't mean that there are not other 'good' author's associations out there. We chose this one because it works hand-in-hand with members to help them sell their ebooks.

EPIC authors is for epublished authors and publishers, but you do not need to be famous to join. http://www.epicauthors.com/ Their resource page is open to the public, and includes dozens of places to receive a review.

They also post a boilerplate contract for new authors, with tips and advice, and problems to watch out for.

If you are epublished then the $30 membership fee is more than paid back in the amount of information you'll receive from their email lists, and the number of published authors and publishers available to answer your question....not to mention, 2 - to-die-for - conferences each year.

Book Reviews

We have a site that is building at www.novel-writer.com that needs book reviews. You need to subscribe and be given publisher permission, but you can post all your book reviews (that you've already earned money from) along with a link back to one of your sites.

One of the benefits of writing reviews is that, once you can prove you do this, and the sites you write for have ample exposure, you can get books/ebooks sent to you free. This is great for an avid reader.