Book Marketing, Publishing, Author Resources
Listen to the Healthy Helpful Authors Partner Training Call
We had some of our 427 partners in the promotion for 11/17 come on a training call. I reviewed how we are leveraging the positions we have to be more attractive to potential readers.
If you have a health related topic, or something that can help others who want to live a healthy happy lifestyle, this book promotion is a great way to join our network FREE.
Come to out Facebook Page to join us, or read about the book promotion here
No matter what topic you write about, putting it in terms that your readers want to hear will always have more appeal.
These three are strong buying motives. When you talk about your book, write descriptions, advertising copy or get interviewed about your book, keep in mind that potential readers are more interested in the outcome they can get from reading than the contents of your book.
When you speak in terms of a positive outcome for them, you’ll be much more likely to get attention, interest and sales from the conversation. Putting your best foot forward is stating benefits in the way your reader wants to hear.
Make sure you state the benefits in a way that covers one of these three whenever you can
Can your readers or clients get more money if they follow your advice? Tell them.
Don’t assume they know this… spell it out.
“reading this blog will give you specific advise to sell more books, and convert readers into buyers”
Be as specific as you can. Tell the story of a successful outcome of a past reader or client.
“One author I worked with used his book to land a million dollar consulting contract”
Most everyone wants more money. If you have a business topic, this is obvious, but you might also show the dollars and cents someone can get from better health or habits, that they get from reading your book.
Making money is attractive. Saving money can be nearly as powerful.
“Using my promotion strategy, one author cut his publicity budget by 65% while landing on a national best seller list and getting three times as many leads in a month”
Again, be as specific as possible. You can make saving money the focus of your book, like Brandi Funk did with “Cut Your Health Care Cost Now” where she sites examples of people getting massive discounts on hospital bills, and provides resources for any family wanting quality health care at an affordable price.
You can use save money in many ways. Staying fit reduces medical costs. Motivation make you more productive, saving time and money.
Regardless of how much money someone can make or save, the outcome from reading your book, or busying your services will no doubt help someone have a better life.
This is where every author can add value to their books, products or other services.
Once again, don’t assume that people know this. I’ve talked to hundreds of authors who decide to write a book to share their story, give back to the world, or share an important message. When you live the topic, you know how important it can be.. but most of your readers will be buying your book without that experience. Very seldom that someone will purchase thinking they know as much as you 
Spell it out. Make sure your readers know how reading your book or engaging your business will positively affect their lives.
When they know, they’ll be more apt to buy. It’s as simple as that.
I’ve been reading the work of JD Lasica and came across a link to Digital Storytelling: A Tutorial in 10 Steps
The whole piece is good, but step one is a great place to start for any author who wants to share stories:
Step 1: Decide on the Story You Want to Tell You probably already have a person or subject in mind. Think small. Focus. Don’t get caught up trying to convey all the aspects of someone’s life — you’re not writing the great American novel, you’re creating what will optimally be a three- to five-minute work that recounts a personal tale and reveals a small truth.
What form should your story take? In their decade of leading workshops, Lambert and Mullen list these main varieties of digital stories:
- The story about someone important. Character stories center on a person who’s touched you in a deep way. Often, these stories reveal as much about the narrator as about the subject of the piece. Memorial stories pay tribute to someone who passed on but left a lasting impression.
- The story about an event in your life. Travel stories — stories about a personal journey or passage — can be effective if they result in the narrator being transformed by the experience in some way. Accomplishment stories about achieving a goal, graduating from school, or winning an honor can easily fit into the framework of the desire-struggle-realization structure of a classic story.
- The story about a place in your life. Our sense of place serves as the focal point of a great many profound stories.
- The story about what I do. People find value in their work, hobbies, or social commitments and can weave wonderful stories from their experiences in each.
- Recovery stories. Sharing the experience of overcoming a tragedy, challenge, or personal obstacle is an archetype that always has the potential to move audiences.
- Love stories. We all want to know how someone proposed, met a spouse, experienced the birth of a first child, or came to terms with a parent. Exploring these kinds of relationships helps affirm our own.
- Discovery stories. These stories probe how we uncovered a truth or learned how to do something.
Now, choose one type of story that appeals to you.
While working with authors who have joined our free Facebook page to promote good health, helping people and sharing great books during November, I found some authors are still having trouble with Facebook
That’s because Facebook is NOT a place to sell book directly.. it’s a HUGE RESOUCE for building a network that will help you sell more books than you ever thought possible.
The key to Facebook, social media, and ALL future book marketing and promotion: Today RELATIONSHIPS are more important than transactions.
Think about this.. you go into a bookstore and see a bargain bin. Do you expect to find the best ideas and help there? NO. Those are the losers. The books that aren’t worth full price.
While some of the old rules of retailing apply to books and information products (i.e., having a sale).. for the most part, the more direct selling an author does, the lower the value of his expertise.
What you want is readers BEGGING FOR HELP and ANXIOUS TO ENGAGE. Social media is perfect for this.. and Facebook is the hands down leader.
So what do you do?
You stop saying “come buy my book” and start building relationships.. it’s as simple as that.
Start by finding like minded authors. I’ve talked to thousands for non-fiction expert authors over the past decade. Nearly every author I meet understands that their book is like a business card… just the start of relationship.
Finding authors in your niche, or related topics is easy today. Many of them already have a Facebook Page.
For an example.. I’ll use Brandi Funk’s “Cut Your Health Care Costs Now”
You’ll want to join us on this one.. It’s current, it’s gaining momentum fast, and (BIG HINT) It’s the one Warren is working on right now, so you know you’ll get more promotional oomph immediately 
Go to Our FACEBOOK PAGE and LIKE the page
Make Sure You Use the Facebook LIKE ButtonThe button below is very important to our networking. It’s active and link to the page we’re talking about. If you see a thumbs up and the word “Like” then you need to click it to “like” the page (used to be called “be a fan”) If you see an unlike link, you know you have already “liked” When you “like” using this system, you aren’t really making much of a commitment.. just networking and letting others know you are interested. I suggest you LIKE the page of any author you know or want to network with. If there ever is a reason to disconnect, you simply click again (the owner of the page does not get notice) No big deal how many pages you like/unlike with this.. VERY |
Our partners are posting on blogs, their Facebook pages, their newsletters, Twitter and more about others in the promotion. These tell people about Brandi’s book, and the idea of getting healthy information out this month. So here’s what you do:
This publicity is permanent because the links on the web will be left up, indexed by search engines, and found by readers again and again.
Brandi will continue to post health tips here and network with the partners in the program. Soon there will be thousands of LIKEs (fans of the page) and high authority link juice (that’s SEO talk for “Google will like you more”)
When you start promoting like this… Shining the light on others besides yourself, you’ll find plenty of other pages and others to help out. They will be happy to tweet and talk about you AFTER you have done it for them. Simply LIKE their page, comment on their blog, share a link, blog about them or whatever else you can think of to promote their good work (for free and in just a few minutes of your time) and they will LOVE YOU.
Remember. You can get anything you want out of life if you help enough other people get what they want. While it’s normal for you to include your web site with your signature, mention your book or blog in a post, or share a resource that will lead to making you money.. more and more, people are attracted to those who HOLD OFF selling and help others first.
As all of your partners work to build the network. You can create your own Facebook page, cross promote new products, all that marketing stuff… but READERS want to see conversation. Makes sure you start with conversation!
Build the network and you will build your own brand. The next step is ON FACEBOOK
November is a great time to think about health.
It’s National Diabetes Awareness Month, and I’m reminded of a huge best seller success we had a few years back bringing awareness to the dangers of diabetes. During that promotion, dozens of authors built connections with readers and several started relationships that continue to this day.
It’s also Movember, an anti cancer campaign where men are growing a mustache this month. I’m personally using as an excuse not to shave. (no photos please)
If you have a book that promotes good health or a better life, this is a great time to be on the lookout for cross promotions and good causes.
As we say, the best way to attract new readers for your book is to get involved and network with other authors with similar great books. Remember, your best buyers will not be buying just one book and the most likely readers from your book (and leads for other business) will be those buying books on subjects like yours.
When you see a good book, do as many of these as possible.
You are an expert author. You should know the best books. As Mark Twain Said
“Never trust anyone that writes more than they read”
When you meet an author, they ALWAYS appreciate the compliment of “I bought your book” (try it, it really works on ANY author, no matter how famous). Let them know that you bought it through reviews, email, comments on their blogs, or some of the idea below
There’s trick we use to get readers of newsletters, email list and blogs to buy. We make sure there are offers from many sources. Studies have shown that people tend to be turned of from a barrage of messages saying “buy my stuff” but love to hear about great products from others.
A review in your newsletter, an excerpt from book on your blog, or mentions on your radio show, speeches and teleseminars will add value and make you stand out as the expert (see Twain quote above)
Most authors are as anxious as you to get more publicity for their book. Instead of begging for coverage, use the tools at your disposal to lend a hand to authors you meet. And if you don’t know them, use this as an opportunity to connect.
When an author has a new book out, they are busy… but this is exactly the time that they will want to be on your radio show, be interviewed for your blog, or talk to your audience.
It’s simple:
Buy a book, promote the author as much as possible the ask them to be your guest.
I’ve done these 3 steps over and over. There are many variations, but I know try to always approach an author I want to have recommend me by ordering their book, finding their Twitter and Facebook ID and sharing it with my readers, commenting on their blog on any post that I can and only then calling them.
Rather than a cold call, I get to hear “Thanks for calling. I appreciate you” .. after that, they are in your camp, asking you how they can help you and looking for ways to cross promote, endorse and grow with you.