Best Seller Authors

Book Marketing, Publishing, Author Resources

Web 2.0 is a Farce.. Nothing New About Social Media

In 1995, FastCompany debuted with this cover.

We knew that computers were more than number crunching machines way before that and use out PC’s to connect with modems to BBS (bulletin board systems) and send messages about topics of interest (mostly tech, but there were long threads about current events, politics, religion).

And since when is the idea of giving a friend a tip on what movie, music, TV or product they would like a Internet idea?

Granted, the new technology has allowed us to be online constantly, keep in touch with more people quicker and stay in touch with old friends while developing new friends.

It’s a must for any author marketing his book today.

Speaking of marketing. What about the “new idea” that the consumers are in control?

Weren’t they always in control of what they decided to consume and purchase?

There was a period of time when large advertisers seemed to get the upper hand. Spend enough money on national TV ads and people will try your product.

The key word is “try” not “love”

David Ogilvy, in “Confessions of an Adveriisng Man” in the 1960’s told us that we could get a consumer to try a product, but if the product sucked, the advertising would just speed up it’s demise.

With today’s technologies, your bad product or false promises will spread faster than ever. You might try to fool some of the people some of the time, but with social media and networking technologies, you can’t fool all the people all of the time (not a new idea either)

The Secret to Selling Books Online

Selling books online is faster, easier and more profitable than traditional book store sales, yet most authors are missing out on most of these sales because they haven’t learned the secret to online book promotion.

I am going to tell you the secret, and give you a quick action plan to start using the secret right now.

The secret is simple. It comes from my marketing mantra “Find out what they want and get it for them.” In online book marketing, you know where the market is. Your readers are on the Internet, in social networking groups, web sites, blogs and media sites. They want to find meaningful discussions on topic that interest them.

You have to be there to be seen.

That the secret — To sell more books online, you and your book have to BE ONLINE.

I said it was simple.

Now, ask yourself.. have you put off:

  1. Building an online mail list
  2. Writing a blog about your topic.
  3. Making comments on other blogs
  4. Creating a profile on social network sites
  5. Tracking your online reputation.

I know the answers for most of us.. “I’m going to get to that when…” No more excuses. Let do something today.

Today’s reader starts by reading about you on the Internet. If they know you, they may be searching for you on Amazon.com, but more likely, they search for word or phrases that they are interested in.

So let’s find out where you are.. right now. Open a browser search and type in the key words or subject of your book. Look at the top page or two of results.

You and your book should be at the top of this list. Let’s talk about what best seller authors do to get to the top and stay there.

While you have the list in front of you, take a look at what does come up. I’ll be there are other books, blogs and videos. Find one that is interesting and see if they have a community, comment section or area to join. Get on the list, post a comment and find a way to participate.

Don’t SPAM the site. Add value to the discussion and put one link back to you and your book website. This is not a place for a promotional message.

There are millions of blog sites out there. Do a search by adding the word “blog” and you’ll see plenty of places to join a discussion. All these writers and readers are interested in YOUR topic.

Get involved in the conversations that are already happening online.

There are forums, social networking sites, photo sharing sites, video sites, podcasts and more.

The secret to this is to get started. Then make it a habit to spend a few minutes each day (or a few times a week) to check in with sites where your potential readers hang out.

You are already online surfing the web, checking email. You are reading a blog right now. The next step is to network online and build relationships that will promote you and your book.

Does it work?

Timothy Ferriss, author of the New York Times Bestseller “The Four Hour Work Week” told me that networking with blogs and bloggers was a primary marketing tool for his rise to the top.

High tech “social marketing” authors are turning out books in this new field. Many are instant best sellers because they have a following they have build up on their blogs. In the tech world, online relationships and networking are everywhere. If you don’t have a high tech topic, you are at an advantage.. you still can be at the start of this revolution.

Don’t just “go online” .. today you have to “be online”

By now, you’ve left at least one comment on a relevant blog. (if not, what are you waiting for?) Post another comment here and tell me what you think of this article. As long as it’s relevant to the topic, it’s okay to add a link out to your own book site.

Print On Demand (POD) Explained – Guest Article

Though the term “on demand” usually refers to movies, the publishing world has a version of on demand called POD technology.

Publish on demand (POD) has really changed the way that the printing world produces books. In fact, there are hardly any printing houses that use traditional forms or printing technology, and many different presses now use POD technology instead. Rather than print a large number of books (or other types of publications) it allows a printing house to produce books as they are needed.

Many years ago, large numbers of books were printed at one time (often result in a large amount of waste). Today, those printing presses that use POD, only print one book per request. For example, if a press receives and order to twenty books, those twenty books are printed only after the order has been issued. This type of printing is also useful due to the fact that a POD press can easily retain digital copies of a text that are available when they are needed. Many university presses use POD as a way to print small quantities of texts as they are requested … and sometimes, a book that has been out of print for awhile can be reproduced using POD technology.

As far as efficiency goes, book publishing on demand technology has made printing small amounts of text very easy. Also, most POD presses will charge a publishing house one fixed fee per copy – no matter what the size of the order actually is. In this manner, the overall cost associated with POD printing is much lower than with traditional printing. Publishing houses will not have to keep a large amount of texts on hand when they use a POD company (instead, they can simply ask for copies as they are needed). From a publisher’s point of view POD printing really makes a lot of sense.

Though POD may be a valid printing option, there are also some negative things to consider concerning this process. Throughout the traditional printing procedure, the entire printing process is carefully monitored and inspected. When a POD company steps in, the printing is entirely digital, which means that a lack of quality control can occur. However, for the author that wants to self publish, contacting a POD company may prove to be inexpensive and useful.

As you can tell, book publishing print on demand technology has really opened up a lot of doors within the publishing world. As more and more publishing houses (and independent authors) move towards POD technology, traditional printing methods are slowly becoming a thing of the past … which may, or may not, be a good thing.

Aazdak Alisimo writes publishing articles for BookPublishingHouses.com – your resource for book publishing houses.