Publishing Changes are Coming!
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 12th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
It’s in the wind. There is no doubt that changes in book publishing are happening fast. As we all watch bleary-eyed at the evening news and more talk about the tough economic times we are all experiencing, executives in the New York publishing houses have forgotten about the average consumer. No longer can these companies starve the market for good new writers and interesting new categories by publishing helpless titles and charge $16 to $27. They have to change to survive. Their solution over the past fifteen years has been to publish more of what they know sells, but it’s not working! Consumers aren’t buying it, and it’s about time!
There are quality writers publishing independently and for consumers interested in reading books not typically found in bookstores may I suggest you visit the web site NothingBinding.com then tell your friends and colleagues to join and post their writing. The strength of independent publishing is in our combined numbers. If all 300,000 new authors each year would join forces there is no telling what kind of impact we could have on the marketplace. To capitalize on all the changes in the book business will take some huge effort. Let’s bind together to generate sales for our independent books. Now is the time.
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Marketing, Book Sales, eBook, writing
Book Tour and Amazon Promotion by Dave Lieber
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 4th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Here’s an easy and free way to get noticed every week as a popular author in your hometown.
BookTour.com, which calls itself the world’s largest, 100 percent free directory of author events, offers a wonderful event calendar for your author engagements. The best part is the periodic e-mail update that gets sent to all readers who subscribe to learn about author events within a certain number of miles from their zip code.
What this means is this: If you list several events each month, you’ll show up on subscribers’ e-mail updates on a regular basis — unlike a visiting author who makes one appearance a year. Your consistency and obvious popularity will cause more buzz about you among your region’s serious readers.
But aside from pumping life into your public image, that same e-mail that arrives to subscribers with your “tour” dates, also comes with everyone else who is scheduled to appear in your designated region. This gives you real-time intelligence about which stores and events host authors on a regular basis and who they are hosting. This insight gives you a head-start when calling the bookstore: “Hi, I saw you booked Jerry Simmons last week. You know, I’m almost as good as him.”
As a reader award, I’m saving the best for last. Recently, BookTour and Amazon struck a deal so that all of your listed events on BookTour now stream into your Amazon Author Page, assuming you have one. (Go to authorcentral.amazon.com to sign up for that.)
A live stream of appearances on your Amazon Author Page gives you a leg up on many other authors, especially those who aren’t around anymore. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mark Twain aren’t coming to a bookstore near you. But you are.
You’re out there! Now the let the world know free and easy, every week, all the time — and find out what everyone else is doing, too.
Dave Lieber is an international speaker and newspaper columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. His newest Web site is davelieber.org – which he says is a sleek new “hub-of-the-wheel” author site that he just completed with author-tech guru Thomas Umstaddt Jr. of authortechtips.com.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Sales, Booksellers, eBook
Book Publishing is Very Competitive
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 4th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Let me share some numbers to illustrate the competitive nature of publishing in the US: 350,000—950—35,000—6—95—70,000—6,000— 125,000—& 60.
* It is estimated there are 350,000 new titles published every year in this country,
* That breaks down to more than 950 new titles published each day,
* The major New York houses publish approximately 35,000 new titles each year,
* There are 6 major publishers in the US of which 5 are foreign owned,
* All six major publishers represent about 95 percent of total books sales in the US,
* It is estimated there are over 70,000 small and niche publishers,
* There are around 6,000 traditional main stream booksellers in the US,
* Large mega-bookstores typically inventory about 125,000 individual titles, and
* The only number that should matter to an author is their percent of sale, and that benchmark is 60 percent.
If an author under contract to one of the large New York publishers and sells at least 60 percent of the total number of copies shipped, they can have a very nice career as an author.
Now you get a picture of the competitive nature of book publishing.
Tags: Book Sales, Booksellers
Ask the Tough Questions
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 26th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Many of my blogs have to do with “so-called experts” who try and secure money from unsuspecting writers and authors. As much as I wish could write about more positive, constructive things, it becomes necessary for me to warn my readers that there are lots of people calling themselves “publishing experts” who are nothing of the kind. I find it once again important to give you some advice, and that is – ask the tough questions.
When someone tries to sell you a product or service, ask them about their success rate? Ask them to give you references? Go to their web sites and locate authors and titles, then do your best to inquire about the product or service? Network with me and other writers, members of your writing or critique group for advice. If you cannot find authors, titles, or anyone who seems to know anything about the product or service, then you really have to be careful.
The second thing you should inquire about is the person or company’s background, experience, and qualifications as an “expert.” When someone tells you they have been in publishing for 20 years, does that really qualify them to sell you their product or service? You need to dig deeper and find out the names of the companies they worked for? In what capacity, what was their job? What were their responsibilities? What were their successes in the business? Let them give you the names of the authors and titles with which they worked. Again, if this information is unavailable, then are they really experts?
If you dig deep before you buy, complete your due diligence with regard to the product or service, and ask for proof of the success, then you stand a good chance of saving lots of money and plenty of time. Ask the tough questions and it will serve you well, don‘t allow yourself to become a victim of these “experts.”
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Book Sales, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
The Truth about Book Distribution
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 25th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
One of my readers sent an email asking about a particular book distribution program. He wanted to know if it was a scam. He quoted from some article he read where it talked about a distributor that went out of business trying to distribute books for small publishers. He said the article described bookstore distribution as a scam. There was in fact a small book distributor that did go out of business a few years ago because they didn’t understand what they were doing, which often happens to businesses with a bad plan.
When a small company of any kind, distributor or publisher, enters the world of book distribution to the mainstream marketplace, they better understand the rules and how to compete with the big corporate publishers. That is especially true with book distribution. One of the reasons for launching my book distribution program last year was to offer authors, small and micro-publishers an opportunity for exposure in the marketplace. This is a program that was two years in the making and I would not even attempt to launch if I didn’t feel it was viable and could be competitive against the corporate companies.
Book distribution into booksellers such as bookstores is a very competitive business and there are no guarantees of success. My program offers access to book buyers and nothing more. Anyone that tries to offer more doesn’t understand the business. Those that wish to throw stones at the idea of book distribution to bookstores just don’t understand the market. They know how to make money selling unsuspecting writers and authors products and services that don’t work. In turn they want to attack those that are trying to make the independent market a better place for authors, small and micro-publishers.
Nothing in the printed book business is easy, but before you jump to a book distributor make sure you understand the costs, terms and risks.
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Sales, Booksellers
Too Good to Be True Sales Offers
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 24th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
When you run across an email with a marketing pitch that offers an “incredible sales opportunity,” or some other verbiage that sounds too good to be true, well it probably is too good to be true. I’ve written about knowing the questions to ask before you make a purchase of a product or service. Warning you about companies that are slow to respond to emails, fail to provide key executives background or experience and those that offer no contact information such as a phone number in their correspondence, as companies you should stay far away from.
When the offer sounds intriguing and the price is right, but you get to the small print and discover there are “hidden fees” then stop right there and move on, it’s not worth it. If you manage to work past the small print and agree with paying the “hidden fees” and find the web site is, shall we say, less than credible in appearance, then run the other way. If a legitimate company cannot give you (1) biographies of the principles of the company, (2) phone numbers or contact numbers besides a mere email address, or (3) a web site that looks like it was created by a ten year-old, then folks, you are not going to get what you think you are getting.
People and companies that offer products and services to writers and authors that fail to meet these minimum of standards, don’t belong in the business. Their claim to fame is making money off your desire to sell books! Don’t buy it! Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Tags: Book Marketing, Booksellers, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
Hardworking Authors
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 18th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Every day I receive emails from authors who are busting their backs marketing their books. They are serious, hardworking, and leave few stones unturned. Many times the problem with lack of sales is that the author has not attracted attention to their book(s). That means that your message, book, or you are not being adequately marketed. Don’t allow this short term frustration move you in the direction of the scam artist who will charge you hundreds if not thousands of dollars for so-called “guaranteed” programs, products or services they attempt to sell to unsuspecting writers and authors.
Don’t buy before you know the questions to ask! This rule of thumb will save you precious time and money on programs, products and services that do not work. I don’t have all the answers but I know the questions. If books were easy to market and sell then every author would be successful. The fact is, marketing and selling books is hard, but if you remain consistent, don’t give up, and always, always ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING, you’ll be better off and have more money in your pocket.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Sales, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
Book Distribution
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 16th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Getting independently published print and eBooks distributed into the traditional bookseller market has been difficult. Many companies promise distribution services that encompass nothing more than availability as opposed to sales channel access. Our sales staff presents books to booksellers the same exact way the New York publishers sell books. That is my background and I understand sales and distribution. My group has the ability to assist writers in print and eBook distribution. This program opens the door to a sales channel that up to this point has been blocked. For more details on this program, contact me via email (jerry@writersreaders.com).
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Sales, Booksellers, Self-Published Author
What is a Virtual Tour? by Stephanie Barko
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 15th, 2010 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
A virtual tour takes a book through online sites that feature content about the author and title during a finite length of time. Blogs and websites where content appears are called Tour Stops. The blogger or website owner at the Stops is called the Tour Stop Host. The person arranging the Tour Stops is called the Tour Provider.
What happens during a Tour? Depending on the topic, the book is toured on blogs, forums, social networking pages, frequently updated websites, and video sites. Sometimes the content submitted by the Provider is passive, meaning no action is necessary by the author after it posts, and sometimes the content is active. With active content, the author has the opportunity to interact with a site’s followers, as in a chat room or a site with comments enabled. Content during a tour may include interviews, excerpts, author videos, book trailers, podcasts, review snippets, endorsements, cover art, headshots, candids, author essays, articles and guest blog posts.
How long does a Tour last? Density of content over time is important in a tour, so stops are usually completed within a 30-45 day time frame.
Where does the Tour go? It goes to both genre-specific and general book blogs & websites.
What does an author need to do to prepare for a Tour? The author must email any interview responses or files that are requested by the Tour Provider and check in online when active content is running.
What are the benefits of a Virtual Tour? First off, the author is going directly to hisor her audience. Secondly, everything on the net leaves a footprint, so unlike print media which is here today and gone tomorrow, your blog, podcast, or book review will stay on the net forever – or as long as the site archives exist -which means new visitors to a site will still be exposed to your message months down the road. Over 79% of the media now find their experts online, so virtual tours have the power to attract the media to (especially nonfiction) authors. With a virtual tour, you are leaving a bread trail for the media and new readers to find you.
For more information about custom Virtual Tours, visit Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist. www.authorsassistant.com/Barko.htm
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Sales, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
Getting Book Distribution Into Bookstores
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 15th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
For most independently published authors, the idea of having their book placed on the shelves of a major bookstore is the ultimate. The major retail chains have a system of inventory where new titles arrive and unsold are returned, every title is guaranteed to sell or face removal. The window of opportunity to sell a newly published title is ever so small, perhaps six weeks at most. While bookstores place newly arriving books onto store shelves they take the unsold ones off and send them back to the publisher. Each megastore carries around 120,000 unique titles, but only 25-35,000 are newly published, the rest are steady sellers called backlist titles. Due to the volume of new titles arriving daily, stores are forced to constantly turn their inventory. If you are fortunate to get your title placed you must have a marketing plan that will hopefully drive the consumer to your particular category and find your individual title. It’s a good idea to have a plan to make that happen before you seek publication and distribution. Bookstores are one sales channel but not necessarily the ultimate.
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Marketing, Book Sales, Booksellers
