The Book Marketing Bible

Essential marketing strategies for self-published and first-time

authors, or any writer looking to skyrocket sales.

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Norm Schriever

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Copyright © 2014 Norm Schriever All Rights Reserved

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 Dedication

This book is dedicated to Jason Sheftell who told me to live my life, every single word
of it. Rest in Peace, buddy.

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 Foreword
Thank You For Giving Me My Crayons Back

Maybe you had a childhood dream to create or write or make something with your own two
hands. Many of us did but a bit too early in life, our crazy wild-eyed dreams were put away on
a shelf. We were told there is no time for such frivolous pursuits. We must get practical,
realistic, and go to a place where imagination apparently causes more harm than good. Some
people call this place 'adulthood.' But if you've got a burning desire to be an unmistakable
creative, this place is hell.

If you compare a kindergarten classroom to a college lecture hall, one looks like a playground
and the other an intellectual prison where old men in glasses and golf sweaters prescribe a
future that is predictable, certain and gives you the opportunity to paint with only a few colors.
That is, if you're lucky enough to paint at all. If not, you go through the motions of life and you
lose sight of the difference between living and waiting to die.

The mortgage must be paid

The kids must be fed

The lights must be kept on.

You may try to convince yourself there is no time for writing or making art, or that the
opportunity is reserved for the chosen few lucky enough to land on a reality show, become a
hot mess, and get the attention they need. But, as Steven Pressfield wrote:

"It's one thing to lie to yourself. It's another to believe it."

The simple truth is that there's no better time in history to be an artist, to create, and especially
to write. Technology has leveled the playing field - the advent of eBooks, the internet, and
self-publishing have opened up opportunities for anyone to share their words. If you have a
burning desire to write, you simply need to start and you, yes YOU can soon give your book to
the world.

The information you're about to read comes at the perfect time, filling a huge void for practical
knowledge about marketing and selling books that's lagged behind innovation. Too many
would-be authors are so intimidated by the prospect of finding an audience that they buy into
the excuses, shelving their creativity once again. But now, with the help of The Book
Marketing Bible, we're all free to share our stories with the world, with infinite possibilities
and unfettered imagination.

I'm here to tell you I've been given back my box of crayons, and so have you.

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Srinivas Rao
unmistakablecreative.com

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 Table of Contents
Introduction: What this book will do for you
Chapter 1: What you’re up against
Chapter 2: Self-publishing and the revolution of ideas
Chapter 3: Why traditional publishing purists are wrong
Chapter 4: Why listen to me
Chapter 5: First, Get Your Mind Right
Chapter 6: The secret to marketing your book
Chapter 7: 3 Questions to Ask Before You Write Your Book
Chapter 8: Book marketing mistakes self-published and new authors make
Chapter 9: The instant game changer to help handle critics
Chapter 10: Draft a mission statement, Why I write.
Chapter 11: The essence of social media
Chapter 12: Your sales funnel
Chapter 13: The four stages of book marketing
Chapter 14: Marketing tips, techniques, and strategies
1. Twitter, the book marketer’s best friend.
2. Create your Facebook Fan Page.
3. Build a website.
4. Blog through your website.
5. Blog to sell books and influence people.
6. Register your domain names.
7. Write a bio for the book.
8. Write an author bio.
9. Setup your author pages.
10. Set up your YouTube channel.
11. Shoot author videos.
12. Make a video trailer.
13. Write a press release.
14. Offer a free download on your website.
15. Presell your books.
16. Set up a shortened URL.
17. Ask people to test read your book.
18. Get a celebrity to endorse your book or write the foreword.
19. Post book excerpts.
20. Email marketing.
21. Call the mayor’s office.
22. Get a poster of the book cover made.

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23. Order business cards.
24. Order mailing labels.
25. Set up a PayPal account.
26. Use a mobile payment processor like the Square reader.
27. Plan a book release party.
28. But don’t call it a book release party.
29. Use a great email signature.
30. Solicit and collect reader photos.
31. Get a custom email address.
32. Free book giveaways and raffles.
33. Build banner images.
34. Reach out to your schools.
35. Put together a media kit.
36. Offer to speak.
37. Grab media logos and put together a “brag book” image.
38. Internet radio shows.
39. Offer bonus material.
40. Post testimonials.
41. Take wildly creative photos.
42. Photo ops with the book.
43. Link it in.
44. Sign up for Pinterest.
45. Sign up for Instagram.
46. Answer all comments, correspondence, and reviews.
47. Answer reader questions on your blog.
48. Collect and share all feedback.
49. Blog on a bigger platform.
50. Blog around important dates.
51. Guest blog.
52. Comment on other blogs and join discussion groups.
53. Produce webinars and podcasts.
54. Contact your public library.
55. Interview someone.
56. Interview yourself.
57. Voting and polls.
58. Create an online group or community.
59. Connect with a charity.
60. Review and promote other books in your genre.
61. Donate free copies of your book to waiting rooms.
62. Donate books to charities.
63. Host a reading.
64. Record an audio version of the book.

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 65. Offer your book to indie and local bookstores.
66. Make a map of your readers.
67. Pretend you are a reporter or gossip columnist.
68. Enter writing competitions.
69. Get your book translated and go international.
70. Create a #hashtag for your book.
71. Tie your book in to trending topics.
72. Teach a class.
73. Register your book with Scribd.com.
74. Get on Tumblr.
75. Sign up for Google Plus.
76. Infographics.
77. Generate a QR Code.
78. Get a Wikipedia page.
79. Register a definition with the urban dictionary.
80. Add your book to Google Books and others.
81. Bundle your books.
82. Enroll sales affiliates.
83. Consider using Facebook and Google ads.
84. Design T-shirts and other merchandise.
85. Make a bet.
86. Make goofy videos for fans.
87. Use signs in your photos for social media.
88. Celebrate your bad reviews.
89. SEO and keywords.
90. Sign up for Google Authorship.
91. Set up an online book tour.
92. Let other sites promote your book.
93. Release a new addition.
94. Put your contact info at the end of the book.
95. Create urgency with limited time pricing.
96. Donate a percentage of your books sales.
97. Find new homes for your videos.
98. Group pricing incentives.
99. Price pulsing.
100. Say thank you with discounts and coupons.
Epilogue

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 Introduction: What this book will do for you
As a self-published author, perhaps even a first-timer, you’re searching for a clear roadmap to
market and sell books. You’ll read a lot of articles, buy plenty of books about marketing, pore
over blogs, pay way too much for seminars, and single-handedly keep Google in business with
your queries for the one “right” method to turn your book into a commercial success. If you’re
like most people, you’ll grow overwhelmed and more than a little confused by the dump truck
of information available.

Googling “How to market a self-published book?” yields more than 55 million responses!
Before you start from #1 and read all the way back to 55 million, let me relieve the mystery for
you right now:

There is no one right way to get people to buy and read your book.

Why not? Think of your marketing journey as crossing an unmarked minefield. A lot of
unknown territory is out there, with no path across to safety. Just like there’s no one, clear line
to bookselling success. The best we can do is follow the footsteps left before us… and hope
they lead all the way to the other side.

Yup, you’re going to have to find your own way – different things work for different authors,
and even the genre of your book will impact how you best share it. But don’t be discouraged.
After reading this book, you’ll have a comprehensive list of book marketing techniques I’ve
found most effective, with the least amount of time and money expended. You’ll get the pros
and cons of each and resources to get you started. You’ll understand marketing your book is a
process, and success is just a function of knowledge, execution and time, but a positive result
is inevitable. Most importantly, you’ll glean the psychology of why certain marketing tactics
work, empowering you to get creative and go on to far greater success than your teacher (me)
has ever seen.

Basically, I want to energize your career as a book marketer as though you were shot out of a
cannon. For me, anything short of that won’t suffice.

So how DO you market a book?

Beg people for reviews?

Send out hundreds of press releases?
Do readings at the library and open a kiosk at a book fair?
Throw a book release party?
Drop some coin on paid advertisements and search engine optimization online?
Open up Facebook and Twitter accounts for your book and post links asking people to buy it
every twelve minutes?
Or just outsource it all and hire a book publicist?

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The first thing you should understand is you won’t get it all at once. You don’t have the time
(I’m assuming) or the money to get your PhD in book marketing and online commerce before
the release. Even if you could take that four-year university course, things move so quickly and
change so much in the industry, what you learned today could be irrelevant a year from now.

Instead, you’ll have to learn on the fly, and that’s exactly where this book fits in. I’m extremely
protective of your time and effort as you start your book marketing campaign, so I’ve presented
information here with the eighty-twenty rule in mind. That is, eighty percent of your results will
come from twenty percent of your efforts. Another way to put it: keep it simple and stick to the
stuff that works without getting bogged down in minutiae that won’t yield spectacular results.

Of course you’ll want to arm yourself with as much information as you can, but in the real
world, experience is a process that includes action – you learn by educating yourself and
doing. And book marketing is no different. However, you don’t want to waste a lot of time and
even worse, money, along the way. So let’s learn from mistakes that only cost you minutes and
pennies, not months and thousands of dollars. The good news is this book will help you
accelerate your learning curve tremendously – and minimize those mistakes.

I believe book marketing happens in levels, or waves, for the self-published and especially for
the new author. Don’t expect to go down the list of one hundred marketing techniques we cover
and initiate them all within weeks, or even months. One of the biggest challenges for book
marketers is taking on too much at first. They end up doing a thousand things simultaneously,
but none particularly well. (Again, I speak from experience.) So I’ll also suggest a sequence of
book marketing activities, or what waves to plunge into first, second, etc. Take on the most
important marketing tasks first. Master them so they’re effective and running on autopilot, and
then move on to the next few.

I’m going to offer personal examples of marketing with my books, particularly my latest, South
of Normal. I don’t do that for any other reason than to intimately document the imperfect
process I went through, the footsteps I’m leaving so you may follow.

What else will you get from this book? Two important things you won’t find elsewhere:

1. The mental and emotional aspect of marketing your book – getting your mind right.
That is SO important, yet never seems to be covered because we ego-driven and
vain authors want to pretend we came out of the womb destined for greatness. It’s
just not so.

1. The many mistakes I’ve made along the way. No one wants to talk openly about their
failures, but being honest about them is the best way to be of service. I don’t care
about impressing you. I care deeply about helping you. Trust me, it’s far less painful

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 – and ultimately, more profitable – to learn from someone else’s mistakes than make
all your own.

This book will be useful to writers at different points of their journeys:

1. First-time authors who are self-publishing their work.

1. Seasoned self-published authors who are trying to improve their marketing.

1. Those who are starting out writing their first book with an eye toward its release.

1. Authors who’ve signed with an agent and traditional publisher but are being
proactive with marketing.

1. Indie artists of all disciplines who are trying to invigorate their marketing plan.

Likewise, we all have varying degrees of comfort and expertise with social media, so the
people who will still benefit from this book include:

1. The newbie who barely uses their existing Facebook account.

1. The average person who uses social media to stay in touch with friends and kill time
at work.

1. Those who already have an online platform for e-commerce but want to improve
results.

1. Social media professionals who are looking to enter book marketing.

No matter where you are on that list, you’ll get something out of this book. Even experts will
pick up a few tactics that can yield exponential results and income, and the first-time self-
published author should sleep with this book under their pillow. But in no way should this be
considered the only authority on book marketing, nor is it an academic tome that’s published
once and quickly becomes outdated. It’s a basic training survival guide, an instruction manual
to success, a living document that should be updated and amended often as we go forward in

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this journey, together.

My only goal is to empower you with practical, battle-tested information. You’ve done the
hard part – committing your story to the page – and now we can undertake the OTHER hard
part as a team. I promise you, if you trust me and follow my footsteps across the minefield,
you’ll be happy to see they reach the other side.

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 Chapter 1

What you’re up against

Let’s get the bad news out of the way. As a self-published author, this is the stuff that’s going
to scare the hell out of you, leave you with a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach and
contemplate giving up and doing something far more fun. What you read next will also reveal
why you need this book, or at least need to understand the information covered in it.

To make the understatement of the year, you have some competition as an author. In fact, more
than 391,000 self-published titles were released in 2012, according to Bowker. That’s a fifty-
nine percent increase compared to the year before, and a four hundred and twenty-two percent
increase since 2007. It’s estimated forty percent of all books are self-published these days.

Now the really bad news. The average self-published author sells less than two hundred and
fifty books. That’s not a misprint. Two hundred and fifty is the approximate number they sell to
family, close friends and coworkers and a few random buyers. The rest of the books collect
dust in boxes in their garage (or, in my case, my basement.)

Almost twenty percent of self-published authors report making no income at all from their
books, according to Digital Book World. That’s one-fifth of all self-published authors making
a big fat goose egg, despite their costs and huge time expenditures.

In that same survey, the median income for self-published authors is reported between $1 and
$4,999, which accounts for almost sixty-five percent of self-published authors.

Indeed, Keith Smart reports that fifty percent of all self-published authors make less than $50
on their books, and ten percent of self-published authors account for seventy-five percent of all
income in the field.

Add that up: almost eighty-five percent of self-published authors make less than $5,000 per
year. And that’s just gross sales – no one has factored in taxes and other costs.

Furthermore, only 1.8 percent of self-published authors make more than $100,000.

Your competition is also increasing rapidly, at a rate of approximately fifty percent per year
for self-published books. But it’s important to remember your competition isn’t just self-
published books but all books, because that’s what readers have to choose from.

Approximately 129,864,880 books have been published, according to Leonid Taycher, a

Google software engineer who works on the Google Books project. Only twenty percent are
available in the public domain and still in print, but that’s still about twenty-five million

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books.

An easier way to figure out the approximate number of books for sale in the United States: On
Amazon.com, the numbers are listed in the left-hand column:

Paperback (24,191,665)
Hardcover (8,586,060)
Kindle Edition (1,306,851)

That equals… 34,084,576 (though some books have all three version available.) Remember,
that’s just on Amazon and only in English.

We can find another telling statistic of the eruption of self-published books on Amazon. It
shows a tally of new releases. Around Christmas 2013, Amazon reported:

Last 30 days (152,893)

Last 90 days (510,666)

Wow. Half a million books released on Amazon within the last ninety days.

So what does that all mean?

1) Don’t quit your day job just yet.

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2) You probably won’t be sitting on Oprah’s couch any time soon.

3) You need to have a smart, focused and efficient marketing plan in order to push through and
avoid becoming another depressing statistic.

Do I have your attention, now?

Do you still have that bad feeling in the pit of your stomach, or are downright terrified?

Good. Fear is a hell of a motivator – we just need to shift that into knowledge and then
intelligent action. I can’t do the work for you, but I’ll certainly provide you with everything
else, empowering you to break through.

So roll up your sleeves and grab another cup of coffee. It’s time to get to work.

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 Chapter 2

Self-publishing and the revolution of ideas

There’s a revolution going on. It’s not a political revolt, it has nothing to do with ruling
countries or commanding armies, or even an economic coup d'état. This revolution has to do
with something far more powerful – control over ideas.

For a long time, the publishing industry held the power to control our ideas – who expressed
them, whose ideas to should be celebrated, whether they were shared with the public or not. If
they embraced an author, he or she “made it.” If they did not, then they were shut out
completely. But now, a huge threat has cropped up -– the ability to print and disseminate our
own books with self-publishing. We have the potential to crystallize our ideas in print and
share them, at times reaching a huge audience that rivals what the traditional publishing model
can achieve. The entrenched system -– from literary agents to The Big Six Publishers -– are
fighting hard to keep control. They tell us their system is far better and even necessary, but
power is rapidly shifting. As Victor Hugo said, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea
whose time has come.”

The majority of you reading this book will be using self-publishing to share your work with the
world, so it’s essential I arm you with the sword of inspiration and the shield of context before
you enter that wilderness. Even authors who are traditionally published need their own
marketing campaigns these days so everyone will be able to relate to what comes next.

To start, I’m going to illustrate the revolution of ideas by telling you about three people: Bill
James, Del the Funky Homosapien and Vincent Van Gogh.

What do they have to do with marketing self-published books? They’re amazing examples of
people who were shut out of the establishment in their time – ostracized, underappreciated and
rendered powerless to spread their ideas and art. But instead of giving up, they chose to blaze
a new path, to find a way to survive outside of the established order. Whether intended to be or
not, they are marketing geniuses by attrition, and there are so many parallels between their
struggles and what you as a self-published authors need to do to sell books outside of the
traditional publishing model.

They broke the rules and emphasized what made them unique instead of trying to conform.
They hustled through setbacks and stayed true to their visions. And now, these three men are
celebrated as pioneers in their fields.

Vincent Van Gogh is considered one of the best painters in history. His works sell for tens of
millions of dollars and are hanging in the world’s best museums. But few people realize that

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during his lifetime (1853-1890) he was a complete failure – starving, estranged from his
family and blackballed from the commercial art world. In fact, he produced more than two
thousand works of art but sold only one. So distressed by his lack of success, penniless and
suffering from mental illness, he took his own life with a gun at only thirty-seven years old
(though interestingly enough, they never found the gun.)

Near the end of his life, when asked about his failure as an artist, Van Gogh said, "I can't
change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize
that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”

I can’t summon a better example of faith, passion and perseverance in an artist. Van Gogh was
so unsuccessful, he almost served as the anti-artist, the punch line of jokes by the cultured elite
his whole life. But he was so possessed by his artistic vision that he continued to paint and
produce until the day he died. I’m certainly not encouraging you to be like Van Gogh. (It sure is
nice to sell plenty of books while you’re alive.) But the lesson is there: don’t listen too much
to critics, judge yourself by sales in the short-term, or worry if you’re operating outside the
literary establishment. Stay true to your art and keep going, no matter what.

Del the Funky Homosapien, whose real name is Teren Delvon Jones, is a rapper out of
Oakland, California. His cousin is the superstar Ice Cube, who helped him produce his first
album with Elektra Records when he was only eighteen years old. (You might remember the
song “Mistadobalina”.) But Del, frustrated with the tone of his album and the commercial
direction Ice Cube was leading him, decided to go out on his own on his second album, staying
true to his art. No Need For Alarm fell flat and received almost no attention in the industry.

He tried again with his third album, but based on initial demos that were unpopular with the
record execs, Elektra sent him a letter only a few weeks before the debut of Future
Development, releasing him from his contract. In those days, there were really no other options
for a musician who wanted to sell records. But he still didn’t give up.

Instead, Del reinvented himself, and subsequently changed the music industry forever.
Collaborating with fellow Oakland rap group, Souls of Mischief, they formed their own label,
Hiero Imperium, and released Future Development in 1998 as a tape, sold only via their
website. Del and Hiero realized the exploding phenomenon of the World Wide Web and
performing live were their only chance to share their music with the public and make a living.
It wasn’t pretty, but they earned enough to continue with music.

Now, almost twenty years after the unassuming and art-driven Del started to rap, he’s
considered a hip hop icon, achieving career longevity that’s rare in the industry – all on his
own terms. Being outside of the all-powerful music establishment allowed (or forced) him to
be a constant innovator. He sells Del and Hiero merchandise, released at least ten albums in
his career and is a frequent collaborator on some of the best projects in rap history, including
the Gorillaz’s Clint Eastwood.

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Throughout his career, Del continued his love affair with marketing (along with a great team
behind him, like former manager, Domino,) through the internet that earned him a moderate but
extremely loyal fan base. He’s constantly experimenting with promotions that put the fans first,
releasing albums for free via the internet, selling another at pricing the fans could dictate (they
could pay anything they wanted for it with a minimum of $3), and a third album that has
completely open-pricing. He’s found new ways to connect with fans that bigger artists never
would dream. He’s also become a legend among a demographic of fans far outside the rap
norm – skateboarders, snowboarders and extreme athletes – landing as the soundtrack for
dozens of video games, documentaries and highlight videos.

More than just forging a living with innovative grassroots marketing, Del changed the music
industry forever. If it wasn’t for his circumvention of the system, I’m positive we wouldn’t see
so many talented, young artists finding their way through YouTube, MySpace, iTunes, etc.
Imagine if the great musicians of the last twenty years all started conforming their sound to
what would get them through the record companies’ commercial bottleneck, instead of singing
what was in their soul? We owe Del a lot. When it’s all said and done, he’ll go down as one
of the most storied and authentic rappers ever – and the godfather of a movement that
connected artists directly with their audience.

Bill James is one of the most influential people in the history of professional sports, but he’s
not a star athlete, a manager or even a team owner. Unless you’re a big baseball fan, you’ve
probably never heard of him. Yet for a decade, teams have made hundred million dollar-
decisions and won championships based on his philosophies. But James’s work started from
humble beginnings outside the establishment, way back in Holton, Kansas, in the 1970s. James,
fresh out of the army, landed a rather pedestrian job as a night watchman at a pork and beans
cannery. During those long, quiet nights with nothing but the fiery boiler to keep him company,
James indulged his love, undisturbed – tallying statistics from baseball games and jotting notes
on the patterns he saw emerge. His findings led him to reject the conventional wisdom about
players in baseball, the “eyeball tests” and rusty adages that still led teams to fill out their
rosters. James didn’t tell the anecdotal stories of the games (and didn’t care who won), but
instead let the statistics dictate what skills were important and who was valuable – a unique
discipline coined, “Sabermetrics.”

He wanted to share his passion, but when he submitted his work to publishers, they scoffed,
believing his material was too quirky and esoteric to ever find an audience. Undeterred, James
self-published The Bill James Baseball Abstract in 1977, an eighty-page analysis of baseball
statistics from the previous season. He placed a small ad in the back of the Sporting News and
was amazed that a few baseball geeks like him loved it and wanted more. So the self-
published release of his self-named abstract became an annual right.

Fast-forward to 1982 and his humble work had grown tenfold, catching the attention of a media
conglomerate that finally agreed to sign him and publish it. Within another ten years, James had

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spawned a whole new branch of philosophy in baseball, applying those statistical patterns and
postulates to running a baseball team. His work was most widely accepted by the Oakland
A’s, a Sabermetric success story made popular in the movie Moneyball. (Though for some
reason, General Manager Billy Beane got all the shine, with almost no mention of Bill James.)

The A’s had a serious predicament – they were a small market team with a miniscule budget
trying to compete with big spenders like the New York Yankees. Baseball is extremely
imbalanced to favor big budget teams, so Oakland needed to find a way to beat the teams that
spent $200 million with a payroll that hovered in the $40 to $60 million range. Thanks to Bill
James’s Sabermetrics (and a huge leap of faith – or desperation - by General Manager Beane),
they did just that, averaging a formidable eighty-eight wins per season since 2004 and making
the playoffs an incredible seven times.

His philosophies soon caught the attention of the Boston Red Sox, a big market team who
nonetheless were divisional doormats to the Yankees. By adopting James’s disciplines, they
went on to usurp the Yankees and win two World Series titles (and counting). Sabermetrics
have become a contributing factor in roster decisions made by almost every team in the league.

What if James, frustrated by the closed doors of traditional publishing, gave up on his passion
and never published his abstracts? Think about where baseball would still be if that geeky
night watchman hadn’t decided to get his ideas out into the world by himself? Ideas are
powerful, like seeds. Plant the right seeds in rich soil and give them the right conditions to
grow (your marketing plan) and, given time, they’ll grow into something bigger than you ever
dreamed. Don’t be deterred one iota that you’re self-publishing, or that you’re a new author.
Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle, as they say. Be unwavering in your
resolve to see your idea grow strong and hearty.

What do these Van Gogh, Del and James have in common? Up against an all-powerful system
that kept them locked out, they were courageous enough to do something totally avant-garde at
the time. They are marketing vanguards, taking on extraordinary risks and delving into the
unknown because they believed wholly in their work, never accepting “no” as an answer.
Some of it was necessity, some accidental, but the overwhelming majority came from courage.

Again, how does this apply to you, the self-published and possibly new author? My advice is
this: as long as you have a story to tell, tell it. The world will decide how near or far in the
ocean that wave will travel. Don’t for a moment hesitate to continue on your journey of writing
and selling your book just because it’s self-published. If you have something to add to the
eternal conversation, a story filled with truth and humanity, then get it out there. Yes, your book
is one little flickering light in a huge, impossible darkness, and the task of getting it noticed is
daunting. But I promise it’s possible and even realistic, and that’s exactly where I intend to
lead you.

The revolution of ideas is already here, and for self-published authors and all writers looking

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to shake things up to achieve success, your time to shine brightly is now.

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 Chapter 3

Why traditional publishing purists are wrong

I want to address a debate floating around the book world and explain why traditional
publishing purists are one hundred percent, unequivocally, irrefutably wrong.

If you’re a self-published author or maybe a newbie shopping for an agent, you’ll encounter a
fair amount of lip-curling scorn from those in the traditional publishing world who think you
don’t deserve to be taken seriously. These “purists” are an old-boys network of literary agents,
the Big Six publishing houses, media, critics, book stores, who have been the gatekeepers to
publication and distribution for a long time. They decide whose work the world should see and
whose isn’t up to snuff. If you want to get signed by a publisher and make it big, absolutely
everything depends on catching the interest and favor of these people. Even a few years ago,
traditional publishers, along with a smattering of smaller of university publishing houses,
accounted for ninety-nine percent of the books that went to market.

The only problem was it was a flawed system, increasingly driven by profit, not promotion of
literature or the art of ideas. Agents received thousands of queries and manuscripts, and what
caught their attention was based mostly on recommendations from their existing clients or
industry insiders, and what they were confident they could sell to the big publishers. The big
publishers signed only those books they thought would sell with reasonable certainty. Often,
being accepted into this world was based on marketability, networking, or just dumb luck, not
screening for the best stories or highest quality writing.

To pace this discussion with a few examples: Snooki, of the reality show Jersey Shore,
released a novel called It’s a Shore Thing . Of course traditional publishers snatched it up and
promoted it like wildfire until it ended up on the New York Times Best Seller list. Does that
mean it was a quality book? No. Does the fact that it sold a lot of copies justify their decision
to publish it? Maybe. But we have to think of how many other writers and stories of quality
they rejected to chase sure profit with Snooki’s drivel. Are those the gatekeepers we should
entrust?

Another example: a brilliant writer in the year 2000 crafts an epic three-part series about
vampires and werewolves. She submits it to literary agents, trying to garner a big publisher,
but they all reject her because the subject matter is too bizarre and dark. Then, the same writer
sends the exact same manuscript to agents in 2010. Based on the commercial success of the
show True Blood and the Twilight series, agents can’t get a contract to her fast enough and the
publishers get in a bidding war for the rights to her work. Why? Same manuscript, same story.
The agents and publishers knew the project had a much better chance of selling in 2010, of
course, because it’s already commercially viable.

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Money.

That’s what drives most decisions of the traditional publishing model.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s okay. It’s a business and we all have to make a profit and feed our
families. To be clear, I’m not saying the traditional publishing model is WRONG or shouldn’t
exist, only that there’s space for self-publishing to coexist. It shouldn’t be a big room with only
one door.

The paradigm of self-published work fighting for inclusion reminds me of the advent of
eBooks, and there’s a lot of causation. When eBooks first caught fire, people lamented and
shouted about how digital books would signal the end of printed books as we knew them. But
in the end, there was room for both. They both served a purpose, filled a need and offered two
different reading experiences. The ratio of print books to eBooks has settled at around sixty to
forty percent (to oversimplify) and I expect the split to land around fifty-fifty going forward.
Likewise, there’s plenty of room for traditional publishing AND self-publishing. I truly
believe the existence of both offers the best possible book publishing climate for everyone – a
hybrid model, allowing any humble writer to get their story out in the world, have an
opportunity to make money and promote literature as an art.

I made a statement with this chapter’s title, that traditional publishing purists, who reject self-
published work and authors are wrong. Here’s why:

Art belongs to everyone.

If you have something important to say, then say it. You should be free to share it with as many
people who want to hear it without censor or filter, or begging for permission.

Can anyone set up a canvas and buy some brushes and create a painting? Yes. Are they free to
show it at a local coffee shop if both parties agree? Yes. Who will decide if it sells? The
public, the viewer, the listener and the reader. If they like the art, it will sell and word will
spread and it will rise in popularity. If it’s terrible, it won’t. It’s really that simple. Art isn’t
meant to be placed in an ivory tower and guarded from us commoners. It’s meant to be shared
so it can bring joy and humanity to our time here on earth.

The movement to empower the “every man” to release their work and endeavor to find an
audience is called the “Democratization of Art,” and it’s already spread through visual arts
and the music industry (as we found out with Del the Funky Homosapien), morphing them
forever into a more inclusive model with multiple access points.

Therefore, the idea of self-publishing is nothing new or drastic, it’s just high time for literature
to follow what’s already occurred in other mediums. It used to be called “vanity publishing,”

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because that’s essentially what it was – small personal projects that people paid a lot of
money to get printed and bound, or super esoteric books that had almost no viable market. But
now, self-publishing has a much bigger purpose – giving writers a fighting chance to get their
stories out to the world, where they can find their audience and be judged on merit, not money.

There are plenty of famous authors who were rejected again and again by the traditional
publishing industry, only to self-publish their work and find meteoric success. Later, the
publishers came back around and wanted to sign them, of course, which is great for everyone.
But imagine if these famous authors gave up after they heard no? Or if self-publishing didn’t
exist?

A recent mega hit, Hugh Howey’s scifi series Wool, was originally self-published via
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.

John Locke, the first author to sell a million eBooks and one of only eight authors to ever do
so, self-published his Donovan’s Creed series.

Those are recent hits thanks to the advent of digital technology. But what if we go back further
to find successful self-published books in print?

What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles, which sold six million copies and
spent two hundred and eighty-eight weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list, was
originally self-published.

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield was rejected by traditional publishing houses, so
he released it himself and sold copies out of the trunk of his Honda. It went on to sell five and
half million copies.

A Time To Kill by John Grisham was also first sold out of the trunk of his car. (By the way – if
someone called me over to the trunk of their car and asked me to lean in for A Time to Kill, I’d
mace them and run like hell.)

Real Peace by Richard Nixon was self-published in 1983.

We’re just getting started. How about these classics that were first self-published?

The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer is now up to its 75th anniversary edition.

Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard - twenty million copies sold.

Dr. Seuss was rejected twenty-three times by traditional publishers.

Other authors who have self-published include Deepak Chopra, Mark Twain, James Joyce,
Upton Sinclair, Gertrude Stein, Carl Sandburg, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound,

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Edgar Rice Burroughs, Stephen Crane, George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Wolff, e.e. cummings,
William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Henry David Thoreau, Benjamin Franklin,
Walt Whitman, Alexandre Dumas and William E.B. DuBois.

In fact, twenty-seven of the top one hundred Kindle books at the time of this writing were self-
published via Kindle Direct Publishing.

As self-publishing has exploded in the last few years, and eBook formats and online content
make it easier than ever to share our work, some of the traditional publishing elite have
scoffed at the phenomenon. They say that self-published books are only pseudo-worthy of the
title published. In their opinion, everyone who writes a book good enough to deserve
recognition should go through the channels of query letter-agent-traditional publisher. But their
worst fear – self-published books flooding the market – is actually a good thing. It creates an
open economy where books rise or fall based on end user demand, not a false market created
by a small number of the elite. Self-publishing, eBooks and platforms like Amazon.com and
Kindle only make room for more of our voices. So you have an obscure little book about left-
handed fly fishing? That wouldn’t have a chance in hell of being signed if publishers looked at
the small demographic of readers and lack of big sales potential. But if five thousand left-
handed fly fishermen are out there who need the advice and welcome it enthusiastically, then
why shouldn’t it exist in the world?

Of course I’m not telling you NOT to pursue an agent, or shoot for the moon with a traditional
publisher. By all means, go for it. If one came knocking on my door tomorrow would I sign on
the dotted line? Possibly. Does that make me a hypocrite? Not at all. Seth Godin made a heroic
exodus into self-publishing and sang the anthem of the independent for years, only to go back to
his old traditional publisher in 2012. That’s just good business – the right thing for him at the
right time.

Self-publishing has been accused of being amateurish, unprofessional, and chock full of
mistakes. To be honest, that perception is correct in many cases – those things do exist more
frequently in self-published books. Whether it’s inexperience, part-time authors or a lack of
big editing budgets, indie authors do need to step up their game (and that includes me!) Then
again, I hear a lot of people accusing the writing in Fifty Shades of Grey of the same crimes.

I think it’s healthy if all of us in the industry – literary elite, self-published and newbie writer
alike –focus on improving the quality of our work, mastering our craft and promoting the art of
storytelling. There are two things I know for sure: that pursuit is a lifelong journey, and we’ll
never get there if we can’t get started.

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 Chapter 4

Why listen to me
First off, it’s not about me – it’s about you, and your goal of getting your book to as many
readers as possible. So please consider my credentials only as good or bad as the results we
achieve for you. But why should you follow my advice? Am I a household name in literary
circles? No. Have I sold a million copies of my book and made a ton of money? No. Am I a
super-geek with some new internet marketing magic tricks? Definitely not.

You should listen to me because I am, essentially, YOU, just a few years and a few books
later.

In that time, I’ve made a ton of mistakes, pushed through frustrations and failures and
weathered all of the challenges you’re going to meet… And in the process found some great
marketing tactics that work like a charm. Why is that important? I understand exactly what
you’re up against and the pride you feel in your baby – your book – and your burning desire to
get it out there to the world. I know what keeps you up at night, looking for answers in the
cracks of the ceiling.

Now it’s my turn to reach out and help pull you up. Through a lot of hard work and a little luck,
I’ve managed to break through and I’ve got to tell you, it’s nice on this side. Things are much
quieter. The work is just as hard (or harder) but without the fast-moving trains of confusion
and desperation constantly rumbling through town. It’s more about the writing, and truly
enjoying the time and space to form genuine connections with people who read it.

My long story, short: I put out my first book, Pushups in the Prayer Room, with all the wild
expectations and emotions first-time self-published authors have. I sold more than two hundred
and fifty copies but it still didn’t do nearly as well as I hoped. I tried a little of everything
when it came to book marketing, failed a lot more than I succeeded, became disillusioned with
how it all worked, but decided to rededicate myself to writing anyway. I did some more hard
living, sequestered from the world in a sleepy seaside village in Central America, and then
wrote another book, South of Normal, about those experiences.

I thought it was inevitable it would sell better than the first book. After all, I’d gone through all
the mechanics of basic marketing and building a platform. But it faltered, leaving me
dumbfounded when sales were even slower than the first book in the beginning. So what did I
do then, when the going got tough? I gave up. Seriously. I was so frustrated with the whole
puzzling game of marketing and selling books that I threw in the towel on the hope I’d ever “hit
big” or make money at it. However, I still went through the motions, figuring I’d just sell the
books I’d already printed. I continued to interact with people, blog, interact on social media

27
and have fun, but I abandoned any desire to push my book to a large audience and figure out the
book selling game.

However, within the defining process of that surrender, I found some marketing magic that
changed everything, a shift in my vision that gave me the keys to the kingdom. From there, the
book took off and quickly hit the Amazon.com bestsellers list. It’s won a few awards and made
a tiny bit of money, but more importantly, connected me with amazing friends and readers all
over the planet. What I’ve learned from that process has opened up opportunities I never
dreamed, landing me on ABC, NBC, Good Morning America, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, and
more. Thanks to that epic shift in my focus – and the marketing tactics I’ve sharpened – I’m
promoting my writing brand on a level I never expected, gaining exposure among hundreds of
thousands of people all over the world and am on my way to a solid, workman-like career
with the written word. My success may still be considered “humble” by many in the industry,
but the point is I’ve unlocked the gates to book marketing success. The rest is just time and
execution… and writing a whole lot more.

Now, let’s unlock those gates for you, too.

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 Chapter 5

First, Get Your Mind Right

The typical author story plays out again and again, hundreds of thousands of times every year,
yet little changes. This cycle repeats itself for many reasons – our intoxication with wealth and
celebrity, lack of reasonable expectations, opening of the self-published and eBook floodgates,
a record number of first-time authors, and finally, an information vacuum when it comes to
good book marketing practices.

Don’t think for a second that your book is so good it doesn’t need professional-caliber
marketing. You’re a writer, not a marketer. Those are two totally different things and should be
treated as such. No worries, this report is the crash course that’s going to bring you up to snuff
on that side of the business.

The typical author story even played out for me, much to my frustration, even though I have
twenty years of marketing experience. But there is a way to smash through it and go on to
selling books on their own merit. Not go around it, not sneak under it, but smash through it.

Here’s the typical author story, with context:

Isn’t it interesting that people read less and less, yet everyone wants to write a book? Is that
the same phenomenon that drives the reality TV craze? Regardless, the fact is people read full-
length books less and have far more to choose from – as we saw, maybe twenty-nine million
books in print. Even these numbers will be swallowed by a tsunami of self-published and
eBooks over the next five years.

Gone are the days when you can just show up online and declare, “Hey, I wrote a book and I
think it’s pretty good!” and expect to sell copies (though those days probably never truly
existed.) Unfortunately, the first-time author does just that far too often, charged with emotion
and “in their own head” from the intensely personal process of writing the book. (“Stare into
the abyss long enough, and the abyss stares back into you.”)

The newbie (and that’s not a bad word) starts out as gung ho about their book as a kid in an ice
cream store. They just know their book will be a success. They’re certain every person they
know will buy it. The media will embrace it. Reviewers will love it. It will become a big
commercial hit. SUCCESS is on the horizon.

But when the book comes out…

They sell a few copies to their family and friends, mostly out of support (pity), but people in
general don’t seem too excited. Sales are disappointing and flatten out after the initial burst.

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The new author sends out press releases about how they wrote a book and it’s great, but hears
no reply. The few reviews they get (by begging bloggers and reviewers online or early
Amazon.com readers) are mixed. In fact, some of them are downright critical.

“But how can this be?” the new author thinks. They get frustrated, depressed and take it all
personally.

“I poured my heart and soul into this book and people should be buying it like wildfire. It’s
ME. It’s SPECIAL!”

So they redouble their marketing efforts, trying to talk people into buying it, but nothing much
changes.

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE WORLD????!!!!!!”

With that sick feeling of rejection in their throat, they compensate by pushing harder. Like an
injured gunfighter, they start shot-gunning social media messages wildly. Some authors even
become downright aggressive, trying to confront people for their perceived slight of not buying
a book.

But people feel that desperate energy and pull back. What the writer thought was good
marketing and hustle is actually counterproductive, pushing their potential audience away.
Why?

Everyone wants to buy, but no one wants to be sold.

Have you ever driven to the mall, walked to your favorite store and entered with a few items
in mind? What happens next? The friendly salesperson walks up to you with a big smile and
says “Hi, can I help you with something?”

And what do you say? Every. Single. Time.

“No thanks, I’m just looking.”

You might even hold your hands up in a defensive position, like you’re trying to fend off a pack
of ravenous coyotes.

It’s the same thing with book marketing – trying so hard to sell and pushing marketing messages
about the book and the author is counterproductive. Their sense of urgency cheapens the
perceived value of the story and the reader experience.

Do you see what’s happened? The author makes it all about him. Trust me on this folks, the
world keeps turning just like the day before, whether or not there’s one more book in it. People
still have to go to work and pay bills and have plenty of family obligations and a mile-long to-

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do list. Your marketing emergency isn’t necessarily their priority.

Yet this is the story that happens again and again with new authors. It definitely happened to
me – twice. But do you want to hear something crazy?

I only started selling books and achieving success when I gave up. That’s right, I gave up
completely. I don’t mean I abandoned marketing the book, but I surrendered the notion that it
would sell a certain amount of copies and make a certain amount of money. I felt like a failure
as a writer (when really I was just a bad book marketer) and all of my dreams were trampled.

Looking back, hitting rock bottom and giving up were the best things that could have happened
to me. With sales and money and reviews and press out of my mind, I only wanted to share my
books with people so I could get rid of the boxes in my basement so I could move on to the
prestigious career of ditch digger. But that caused a shift in my marketing, and most importantly
in my mindset. I began to judge success by one happy reader or literary friendship at a time. I
started to have fun. I interacted with people coming from a genuine place, not leading with a
transaction in mind. I focused on sharing the story I’d lived, not the book I’d written, and found
out there was plenty of overlap into the lives, experiences and stories of other people. I
connected with them on that common ground and I made sure we had even more fun, together.

Within months I noticed unexpected and exciting changes:

I found my target market.

People were talking about my book via social media on their own.
I was having fun and “meeting” amazing new friends every day.
I was connecting with and helping people.
Instead of focusing on who hadn’t bought my book yet, I circled back and
thanked and shared time with those who had bought it.
I didn’t care about sales anymore – I cared deeply about people reading
my book. (There’s a huge difference.)
Media and networking opportunities I never imagined opened up almost
effortlessly.

BOOM.

I looked up one day and South of Normal had hit the top ten list in its genre on Amazon.com,
making it a bestseller. In fact, it was all the way up to number four , behind fifteen-year
heavyweights, like John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air.

And you know what? That was nice and all, but I still didn’t get too excited about sales… I
was having so much fun with the book and meeting so many cool people, and THAT was the
reward. Of course, sales and industry accolades are great. (Let’s keep it real.) But I was no

31
longer killing myself trying to sprint the first mile of a marathon.

They say if you can’t find the book you want to read, then write it yourself. When I was a new
author, I would have loved to hear the wisdom I now have to impart. So I realized my insights
into book marketing could help other self-published authors. I started sharing it via my blog,
got invited to teach seminars, asked to write a few guest blogs, published a few articles on the
subject, and received a ton of feedback for even more content, and this book was born.

I attribute one hundred percent of any humble success I’ve enjoyed to my shift in mindset. So
as you go through this information, remember your mindset has more to do with breaking
through than any specific marketing tactics.

Here are a few tips to help get your mind right:

Loosen up. You’re WAY too uptight from the pressure cooker of writing
and releasing your book.Now, loosen up some more – it’s not life or
death, and you have plenty of time to get it right.
Have fun. If you don’t have fun, I promise you, no one else will.
Lead with your passion.
Do it for ART and for LOVE, not for SALES.

Before I leave you to it, I want to share one more super important note, that thing we stuck a
pin in and promised to come back.

The Golden Rule of book market is: it’s NEVER about the author.

The benefit to reading the book must be all about the reader. You’re selling the entertainment
value the reader will get when reading the book – the experience – not the book itself.

The best way to think about your marketing is basically to have a huge online party and invite
as many people as you can. Celebrate the readers, the experience the story conveys and the
interests you all have in common. People are attracted to that energy. Sooner or later, they’ll
come to you because they won’t want to miss out on something good.

Do you remember that analogy we used earlier of walking into your favorite store? You went
there with the intention to buy something but then threw your hands up and said no when a
salesperson asked if you needed help. Now, think about that same store on Black Friday – the
day after Thanksgiving – when people line up around the block at 3 a.m. and stampede into the
mall for the privilege to spend their money first? What’s the difference? Mindset.

A lot of very smart people have sold a lot more books than me and written books about
marketing, so read their advice too. Figure out what’s right for you, and then do a lot of it. But

32
no matter whose advice you follow, I can promise you this: get your mind right first, and
success will find you – in ways and places you never expected.

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 Chapter 6

The secret to marketing your book

I propose you try something crazy. Don’t ever, never, ever come right out and say, “Buy my
book.”

Instead, shift your goal from book sales to warm introductions for people to have an
experience with your book. It may look like semantics, but believe me, there’s a fundamental
difference.

As I explained before, no one wants to be sold but everyone wants to buy. We’re so
bombarded with sales messages and advertising crap that when we perceive another pitch
coming, our brains instantly retreat into the castle and pull up the drawbridge. Yet, we continue
to buy more than ever. Why is that? Because we want to buy things on our own terms and for
our own reasons, not be lab rats responding to cheap and self-serving prompts.

In regards to marketing your book, this is how that change of intention may play out. Instead of
composing Tweets like this:

Buy my new book, Summer of Love, Don’t miss it! (LINK) #Romance #BestBooks

Or something like that, there’s a better way.

Start a conversation with your new audience, first. Explore what they have in common with the
themes, topics or experiences they’ll garner by reading the book. Delve into the values, issues,
challenges, needs, hopes, desires, hobbies, passions, dreams and fears covered in the book.
Why is Fifty Shades of Grey so popular? Luck, for one, but also because every woman who
reads it secretly (or not so secretly) imagines herself as the protagonist, translating the good
stuff into her own life. People want the fantasy, to imagine that, even for a few moments, it’s
possible. They want escapism.

Help your reader escape into your book not by reaching for their wallet for $14.95, but by
reaching out to them as human beings on a more profound and personal level. If you only think
of them as a potential transaction, you’ll end up with nothing. If you think of how you can help
them escape, being an accomplice in the jailbreak from their life, then you’re on the right track.

That’s great advice (which isn’t my own, of course – I had to learn from people much smarter
than me). But how the hell do we DO it? I wouldn’t leave you hanging – I’ll teach you.

Start by making a list of all the themes and topics in your book – absolutely everything it deals
with or covers.

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For instance, South of Normal’s list may look like this:

Costa Rica
Tamarindo
Expats
Surfing
Travel
Ocean
Beach
Vacation
Tourism
Tropics
Swimming
Fitness
The drug trade
Marijuana
Escape the USA
Minimalism
Forgoing material possessions
Writing your first book (because I talk about that a lot in the book)
Finding happiness
The meaning of life

Spare no detail – if it was an important issue or topic in the book, include it on your list, as
well as people’s names, names of places, world events and more. These are the points you
have in common with your audience. Not all of them, of course, but it’s good to define them
first, then focus on what’s most prevalent. Next define the items on your list that will have the
most gravity with readers.

I narrowed it down to:

Costa Rica
Expats
Surfing

Those three keywords best describe my target market. From there, I wrote, produced and
shared content about those topics. Your goal is to be the best curator of those topics they’ll
ever find. That way, you are introducing yourself to people in a friendly, non-salesy manner
while establishing an authentic relationship, not chasing $14.95.

So what if a tweet looked like this:

What are the top surf destinations in the world? #Tamarindo, #Costa Rica? www.link.com?

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Or

Have you ever thought of moving abroad? Here are 10 reasons why Costa Rica is the place
for you. www.link.com.

Can you see how someone might come across those online and be infinitely more likely to
click and read on?

How will that sell books? Because you probably won’t attract, engage, build trust, establish
credibility, form a relationship and conduct a sales transaction with a reader within one sales
message. That’s like expecting to get married on the first date when he or she first answers the
door. There’s a process of getting to know each other, a courtship, just like there’s a sales
process. But what you’re doing by putting out the correct content is getting a lot of first dates.
In sales, that means you’re bringing people into your sales funnel or sales cycle. They say it
takes at least seven positive exposures or interactions until someone automatically deems your
brand psychologically comfortable, and they can’t just be seven billboard ads saying, “Give
me your money, now.”

There’s another name for what I propose you do – it’s called content marketing. That’s a fancy
new moniker for a simple, fundamental sales premise: provide something of value first and the
sales will follow naturally. Or as the late, great sales guru Zig Zigler said, “If you help enough
people get what they want, you get everything you want.”

A little about the resurgence of content marketing from a pure business perspective, sometimes
also called outbound marketing:

Content marketing is a way of spreading information and value to the people who need it or
want it, while actively promoting your brand. Content can take many forms, articles, blogs,
infographics, Q&As, special reports, guidelines, workshops, podcasts, videos, speaking
engagements and educational tools.

These days, people automatically tune out sales messages – they fast-forward through the
commercials, close out the banner ads, breeze past the advertisements. How many times have
you pulled out a pen and paper and wrote down the number during a radio ad or as you drove
past a billboard? Those forms of traditional advertising have yielded vastly diminished
results.

The sales paradigm has changed, including with book marketing. Put enough great content out
in the world (internet,) and people who have an interest or need, and who are already active in
finding a solution to their need, will find YOU.

Every business has one agenda in mind, whether you’re selling books, designer jeans, cars,

36
whatever – to bring in more clients, serve them well and make money. Period. How we go
about doing that is called sales, and as you’ll see, the traditional method of sales has some
serious deficiencies for today’s market.

The Traditional Sales Paradigm

Our traditional marketing process looks like this: we tell people about us as loud and as often
as possible. “This is ME. This is MY COMPANY. This is what WE do. Sign up with US. Do
it NOW.” The problem is everyone else is doing the same thing. Everyone claims to be bigger,
better, faster and cheaper. The result is a super-saturated consumer environment that turns
people off. It gets more difficult to get their attention so, as marketers, we feel the need to turn
up the volume and frequency of our marketing messages even higher in order to keep up.

This doesn’t work well.

It’s called ‘shot-gunning,” and believe me, it will yield you diminishing returns until you’re
advertising a going out of business sale.

Let’s look at a marketing message you shotgun out to a thousand people, possibly a billboard
or radio ad, or even an emailing list about your product.

To earn a client this is the process that has to work correctly.

You hope the consumer receives your marketing message. (500 out of
1,000 people.)
You hope they open it and read it. (50 out of 1,000)
You hope they act and contact you. (2 out of 1,000)
You hope they need your product or service and are QUALIFIED. (1 out
of 1,000)
You hope they are financially committed to paying you. (.5 out of 1,000!)

Those are not good odds, especially when you're spending big money and expecting a decent
marketing return on investment.

But if we look at content marketing compared to the traditional sales paradigm…

The client searches for the information you have provided, perhaps
through Google or Yahoo.
They are motivated to read and internalize the message.
They have already acted to start solving their problem or filling their need.
If you provide valuable content, you’re already building trust and
credibility.

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 You are their new favorite resource, so they’ll return to you or contact you
to continue the conversation.

To put it simply, THEY are looking for YOU, not the other way around.

This works extremely well with book sales (with minor adjustments based on the nature of the
product.) In fact, John Locke, who set the record as the first to sell a million eBooks,
documented how he used this process in his book, How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!
Basically, he attracted and engaged people through Twitter and then continued the relationship,
moving the conversation over to email, forming literary friendships and creating brand
ambassadors.

Too often, new or self-published authors release a book and their whole marketing campaign
insists of imploring (no, begging) their friends, family and coworkers to buy the book. I know
this because I made that mistake, too (as well as every other mistake you could make). How
many of us have made a list of our friends or added up how many Facebook friends we have
and silently calculated, “If even half of them buy my book, I’ll have a thousand sales instantly.”
Or something like that. Don’t push your friends to buy. Tell them about it, of course, share the
experience with them, have fun, celebrate, invite them to the book release party. But the friends
you already know, who are buying the book out of charity (and probably never reading it) are
ultimately not your target market. It’s fun to see book sales numbers bounce at first, but it’s not
where you want to place the majority of your attention and effort.

Guess what? People will buy a book when they feel like buying a book, not just because you
showed up one day and released one. They have hundreds of friends and people they know
selling them stuff – from purse parties to fantasy football leagues to Girl Scout cookies, so if
you think your product automatically deserves to be at the top of that list, you’re misguided.
Have fun, keep putting out good energy, slowly but surely introduce the book and what it’s
about, and be the best damn curator of the topics in the book. Sooner rather than later, your
audience will come to you on their own. They’re a thousand times more likely to buy out of
fear of missing the party than because they just might enjoy it.

Yes, your competition among other books and entertainment options is overwhelming, but as a
self-published author you also have unique opportunities to spread the word about your book
and your brand in unique, creative ways, with unlimited potential to reach a huge audience.

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 Chapter 7

3 Questions to Ask Before You Write Your Book

My biggest thrill is getting an email from an aspiring writer who asks for advice on how to
start their first book. Some of them are bright-eyed and optimistic, some seasoned and
cautious. But whether they’re penning a business book or the next great teen-zombie-thriller,
there’s one question they all have in common:

“Where the hell do I begin?”

Great question.

The process of writing a book and sharing it with the world can feel so overwhelming, it may
drive you to drink. Even a simple Google search about ‘writing a book’ will bury you in an
avalanche of information, at times so diluted, confusing and contradictory, that it’s kept many a
talented writer from getting started.

Of course you can begin like I did – wasting time on Facebook and calling it “marketing,”
daydreaming about groupies (who never appeared) and choosing actors for when Hollywood
called (which never happened, but might I recommend a better way?)

I truly love coaching new writers, doing my best to simplify and clarify the process while
encouraging them to take the first steps, so this is how I respond to their inquiries:

“Here are three questions to ask yourself BEFORE you start writing your first book.”

1. What are you trying to achieve with this book?

What are your goals? Your expectations? Is it to sell a certain number of copies? Do you want
to make a specific amount of money? Or is it to get great reviews, have as many people as
possible read it and entertain them? If you’re planning on quitting your day job and pouring
yourself one hundred percent into writing, then your goals will be much different than if it’s
just a passion project. I do a fair amount of ghostwriting for business people who want to put
out a book as a way to establish themselves as an industry expert and engage new clients, not
necessarily contribute to the field of literature, so obviously their goals are different.
Furthermore, are you planning on starting a series of books or are you one-and-done? Will you
be doing speaking engagements? Workshops? Are you trying to get your name in the media?

There is no right answer to this question, but knowing what you hope to achieve helps you
focus on reaching that outcome as you write.

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2) How is your book going to be different from every other book out there?

One of my favorite quotes offers advice that translates well to writing and marketing a book.

“Do not speak – unless it improves on silence.” -Buddha

In other words, don’t talk just to talk, and don’t write just to write or see your name on a book
jacket. If you have something that improves on the status quo, then write it. But if you’re just
creating more noise in the already deafeningly loud room of publishing and media messages,
then skip it. Only write if you have an important story to tell, a human truth to expose, or
something of value to add to the eternal conversation.

Right after I released my first book, Pushups in the Prayer Room, a friend of mine who’s a
producer for the TV shows, The Amazing Race and Survivor, gave me some feedback. She
asked me the ultimate question. “Why should the reader care about your book? How is yours
different?”

I was tongue-tied, taken aback and a little bit offended for about five minutes, until I realized
she was right. She’d asked the absolute best question any writer could be asked.

Why should the reader care?

As we documented earlier, it's a crowded market, so to have a snowball’s chance in hell of

competing, you have to have a specific niche, remarkable story or unique proposition that
clearly separates you from the hundreds of thousands (or millions) of other books in your
genre. Unless you have something DIFFERENT, BETTER or VALUABLE to say, you’re just
being redundant and creating noise.

3. When a reader puts down your book, what do you want them to say?

Picture this. A wife and husband are lying in bed, reading. She finishes your book, closes it,
takes off her reading glasses, turns to her husband and says…

You have some control over what happens next. I’m not just talking about her assessment of the
book’s quality, which is subjective, but what specific message she conveys to him. And then
conveys again on Facebook the next day, and to a friend, and maybe tells her coworker about
it, who tells his wife, who is in a reading group, and so on. That is how books get sold – word
of mouth (and social media) recognition based on a clear, concise, overriding message from
author to reader that’s easy to pass around.

Have you ever heard of an elevator commercial in business? It’s the thirty-second script you
use to describe who you are, what you do, what problem your product or service will solve
and how you’re different. The whole story of your book, even if it’s five hundred pages, should

40
fit neatly into a brief pitch line like an elevator commercial. Figure out what that is and make
sure you convey it to the reader effectively so that wife will tell her husband exactly what you
want the world to hear.

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Chapter 8

42
 Book marketing mistakes self-published and new authors
make
Since I promised you we’d help minimize your marketing mistakes in this book, here are the
top twelve errors self-published and new authors commit. Highlighting what errant roads NOT
to go down will help you stay on track… and sell books.

1) They shotgun sales messages and call it marketing.

Too often, self-published or first-time authors release a book with LOUD! and persistent-
persistent-persistent announcements all over social media. If you’re selling used cars that
might work, but marketing your book is a more sophisticated endeavor. Nearly 500,000 new
books will be released this year, all clamoring for attention and sales, so when you shotgun
marketing messages about buying your book, you do nothing but add one more car to a nasty
traffic jam – and no one appreciates that. There’s a far better way to market and gain sales.

2) Not blogging and then not blogging some more.

Blogging is an overused word these days but the intention is to release quality content about
the subject matter in your book, not document driving the kids to soccer practice. Keep your
posts short but write them consistently – a blog should be just one thought on paper. They
should always answer a question, solve a problem, entertain or provide value. Blogging will
give you something to post via social media (think of the bullets and the gun analogy), draw an
audience, establish yourself as an expert, build trust and form literary friendships – all while
selling books.

3) They don’t establish their niche.

With tens of millions of books flooding the market, it’s more important than ever for an author
to understand their ultra-specific niche. Before you even write your book, figure out what niche
it will serve. I don’t mean just a genre, like romance or travel adventure, but you should know
the specific demographic of who will absolutely love and who needs your book. Make a list
based on age, gender, location, lifestyle, hobbies and interests, and you’re just getting started
defining the niche you want to target. No lie, it’s easier to market that book about left-handed
fly fishing than a romance novel because you know exactly who your demographic is. If you
want to read a fantastic book about niche book marketing, especially to promote your business,
check out Own Your Niche by my friend and mentor, Stephanie Chandler.

4) Not realizing their value proposition.

Don’t write a book just because you want to see your name in print or drop that you’re an
author at fancy parties. (I’ve tried it – people aren’t that impressed.) Your book should add
value to readers’ lives above and beyond what already exists in print. Does it fill a need?
Solve a problem? Explore a human truth? Tell a story in a unique or fresh way? If not, then
you’re just regurgitating what’s already out there.

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5) They set unrealistic goals.
I get it – you want to be a best seller, sell the movie rights and end up on the Oprah show.
Those are great goals and I’m all for dreaming big, but you might want to focus on jogging a
mile before you’re ready to qualify as an Olympics sprinter. By setting up certain stages of
marketing, you won’t get burnt out or disappointed when reality comes knocking. I like to set
goals for tasks executed, people who are exposed to the book (not necessarily pay for it), and
literary friendships formed, instead of raw sales numbers, because you can directly control
those.

6) They think the book is about them.

Writing a book can be one of the most intimate and deeply personal experiences you’ll ever
have. You’re baring your soul for all the world to see, but marketing is the exact opposite.
When you’re promoting your book, the focus should be one hundred percent about the reader
and their experience with the topic in the book, not your art and certainly not your ego. It is no
longer your story when you release it into the world – it’s a gift you’re giving away. This is
perhaps the biggest shift of perspective authors as book marketers fail to make, but it does
make all the difference.

7) Not treating it like business.

Never forget you are a businessperson trying to market a product, expand your brand, garner
sales and build a following. What you’re trying to accomplish is on a root level the same as
Coca-Cola or Toyota. Treat it as such with a focused business plan, analysis of your
competition, strategic partnerships, a marketing schedule and accountability. It’s just business,
so don’t be afraid to look outside the narrow world of traditional book publishing and
marketing for inspiration.

8) They take it personal.

You’ll need to grow a thick skin quickly if you’re going to be in this game, and it takes practice
to reach a balance where you can be emotionally detached but not dispassionate. You should
put your heart and soul into writing but then market the book like a cold robot. At first it’s
almost impossible not to live and die with every review, every insult of a friend who didn’t
buy your book, or every rejection. But with conscious training you’ll also be able to bounce
back immediately and even turn negatives into positives.

9) They don’t get creative.

Hanging out on Facebook all day does not a book marketing campaign make. (I know – I’ve
tried.) There are endless possibilities to gain exposure for your book in creative way,
especially with social media these days. Make custom photos, infographics, shoot author
videos, conduct giveaways and raffles, make silly bets with your readers and fans, conduct
readings, speak in public, contact big shots and taking advantage of national days and holidays
(like Valentine’s Day for romance novels), just to name a few. Make a brainstorming list and
get a little crazy.

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10) They don’t have fun!
Guess what? If you don’t have fun while you’re marketing the book, no one else will. (Nor
will they buy it.) Excitement is contagious, so if you have a fun, positive reader-first attitude
while marketing, it will rub off on others and reinvigorate you. Think of your book marketing
as a huge party – a celebration of art and life – and your job is simply to invite as many people
as possible.

11) They pay too much for the unknown.

When I started out, I knew a lot about marketing but little about book marketing, and would
have gladly paid someone a fair sum to handle my social media and book promotion campaign.
But when I shopped around, I found high-priced PR firms who offered to send out a certain
amount of press releases a month for inflated sums, like $2,500 a month. They made it sound
wonderful, but in reality you have no idea if those press releases will ever actually garner you
any coverage, or if that would translate into book sales.

Like author Tamara Dorris says, “The best advice I can give authors is not to think you can just
pay someone else to handle your book marketing and that’s the end of it. No one will love your
book much as you do, so you can spend thousands on publicity but your personal involvement
will always reap the best results.”

Unfortunately, there are plenty of people quick to charge for the unknown in the book game and
make it sound like a sure thing, so be careful. The decision I made was to take on the marketing
campaign myself so at least I could learn, control my efforts and care more than anyone else
would. I also designed a platform of book marketing services to help other authors that looks
exactly like what I wanted – and for exactly what I wanted to pay.

12) Thinking there’s a magical shortcut to selling books.

Too often we’re swinging for a homerun, looking for that one lucky thing that will turn us into
millionaires overnight. When you’re starting out, it feels like you’re going to live and die with
every decision, made or broken by every trivial misstep. You won’t – there is no panacea.
Book marketing is about have a focused plan that’s all about the reader, executing it with
energy, passion and fun, sticking to it with consistency over the long-term, and building a rock-
solid foundation so you can rise as high as you want to keep adding to it.

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 Chapter 9

The instant game changer to help handle critics

You’re going to get bad reviews. In fact, the more books you sell and the more your name gets
out there, the more haters, malcontents and weirdly angry strangers will cross your path. I can
tell you just to brush it off and not worry, but of course that’s ridiculous advice. It stings like
hell every time someone expresses a poor opinion of your work, which you poured your heart
and soul into. It fills you with rage, makes you want to defend yourself vehemently, or even
give up as a writer.

But don’t forsake – I can help. Cool, calm and collected, I’m going to lead you through how to
handle criticism, negative reviews and outright vicious attacks. These aren’t sunny positive
thinking messages or wishful sentiments about letting it all go or loving everyone, but tangible
tactics to reframe negative feedback so you’ll actual be confident and sometimes even happy to
deal with it.

First, there are two types of negative feedback:

1. Dissenting opinions and constructive criticism.

Whether you like it or not, some people will find fault with your book or just flat out not care
for it. Their negative reviews will be about your book, not about you, and may contain specific
suggestions about what didn’t go over well with them. Believe me, these are your friends and
you can learn and grow from their feedback.

2. Personal attacks.
And then, there are those people who absolutely rip into you. Every single thing is wrong with
your book – it’s the worst book ever written, offensive, has no redeeming value, and you’re the
worst writer who’s ever lived. They’ll even slander and slam your character, not just the
characters in your book.

Let me share with you my experience with the latter, a vicious and personal 1-star review on
Amazon.com that led me to figure out the surefire strategy to growing a thick skin. This is from
a blog I wrote a couple years ago:

I'm more excited to write this morning than usual because I just received my first 1-star review
for South of Normal. Yes, I do mean I'm excited in a good way, and no, "1-star," is not a typo.
Let me explain why, and offer how 1-star reviews are actually nothing to stress about as an
author.

I checked into my Amazon.com page this morning and saw a new review had been posted.

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That’s usually a good thing, but this particular reader gave the book 1 star.

The review was titled "Horrible on EVERY level," and described me as "meaningless, a
loser, whining, miserable … no wonder your life sucks, addicted to stupidity," and went on to
characterize me as a "meatball" (probably true.) and added that “if typing ‘Dear Diary, today I
washed my underwear’ is what makes one a writer, you are qualified."

I replied, “Thank you for your review,” and left it at that.

Why could I so easily absorb that slap in the face? Here’s the secret:

A bad review just means you successfully identified someone who is NOT in your target
market.

In fact, you did an AWESOME job finding someone who’s an ideal candidate NOT to buy and
read your book. That’s valuable information because it helps you narrow down who IS your
ideal reader. A bad review doesn’t mean your book is bad (just like a 5-star review doesn’t
mean it’s good). All it means is someone REALLY disliked it. Some people love Shakespeare,
some love I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell. Some people love the movie The Notebook, some
The Hangover. Cujo and Lassie were both great movies about dogs, but their viewers
probably had slightly different tastes when it came to entertainment.

No one is going to love everything – that’s impossible (and would make the world damn
boring). That’s not your goal. If you try to please everyone you will be miserable and your
writing will be bland beyond belief. Your job as an author (other than writing the best, most
honest book you can) is to find your specific target market and share your work with them as
much as possible.

I received a lot of great feedback and encouragement on that blog, so I expanded it into a list of
reasons why you shouldn’t stress about bad reviews and attacks. Much of this advice applies
to all artists, not just writers, but also singers, actors, inventors, or anyone who is trying to do
something different and creative in this world. Hopefully these thoughts put things in
perspective so you won't be stunned by a bad review, just motivated to shine on.

Ten reasons why authors should love 1-star reviews.

1. They are right.

I know what you might be thinking. “Say what? No way. My work is better than that, they don’t
know what they’re talking about.”

Realize a review is THEIR forum to express whatever opinion they wish. It belongs one
hundred percent to the reader. You, the author, had two hundred and fifty pages to express your
view of the world, so now they get to cram their whole existence into one hundred and fifty

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words reflecting on your work. So no, they’re never wrong. Their opinion might be short-
sighted, emotional, incomplete, or a little unfair, but that’s cool. It’s their time to talk, so the
author should just clam up and respect that.

2. They may be too close.

When you receive a review that slams you personally, remember it could be from a person in
the book who doesn’t like their portrayal (if it’s nonfiction), someone who has a bee in their
bonnet about the subject matter, someone who thinks they can do it better or are smarter, who
doesn’t like your politics, religion, country or the color of your skin. (It’s sad, but true.)
Someone who’s off their meds, who hasn’t read the whole book (as clearly, this reviewer
didn’t get past the second chapter), or it’s a competing writer trying to slam your book because
it threatens his own. They are way too close to the whole thing for you to consider their words
impartial.

3. There are a lot of angry people out there.

Sadly, the internet has become a cesspool of angry and desperate people expressing their
darkest thoughts while hiding behind the mask of anonymity. When someone feels sad, alone,
angry or fearful, they lash out any way they can, and too often that’s with bullish or hateful
comments on online. The reader still probably didn’t like your book, but the hurtful, attacking
review probably had more to do with their life than it did your book. Let's just give them a big
group hug and not take it personally.

4. At least you’re not boring.

Give me 1-star reviews all day long, but PLEASE don’t give me a 2- or 3-star review – that’s
just blahhh. I write in the introduction to South of Normal that my goal with the book was to
make people think a little bit and feel something. A 1-star review just shows the book stirred
their passion and challenged their belief system, but at least it wasn’t viewed as boring – the
ultimate sin.

5. Crazy loses credibility.

The more crazed and aggressive the reviewer sounds, the more they lose credibility with
anyone who may be reading. Their words will expose them for who they really are, not who
YOU are. When responding to a bad review, ALWAYS be nice, polite and respectful. NEVER
debate them. Agree with them, thank them, and have fun with it.

6. Understand statistical outliers.

Whenever you open up something to mass opinion, there will be outliers, people who go way
off the deep end in either direction. For instance, at the time of writing this, my South of
Normal now has eighty-two 5-star reviews out of one hundred and twenty-three, a seemingly
impressive sixty-seven percent. But we have to take that with a huge grain of salt. A lot of
those reviews are from friends or an established audience, so I almost throw out that number.
The other indicator is it has only four 1-star reviews, a pretty low number for any book, but
still I throw out that number. There will be outliers no matter what statistic or ranking you’re

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looking at, and the truth always lies somewhere in the middle. The more reviews you get, the
larger the sample size, the more a balanced curve will emerge: some 5-star, some 1- and 2-
star, but mostly 3- and 4-star reviews. That’s how it always is, so if you expect all 5-star
reviews, you’re deluding yourself or you haven’t sold nearly enough books.

7. It’s not going to affect sales either way.

You won’t lose significant sales with a 1-star review, nor will people throw money at you
because you have a few good reviews. Selling books is about finding your target market, those
who want or need your content, and then consistently (but tastefully) introducing the subject
matter to them so you may share an experience, and eventually build loyalty. One little blip on
the radar isn’t going to sabotage that process. In fact, you might even attract a few new readers
based on the bad review. I had a reviewer chide me for having the subject matter of sex, drugs
and violence in the book. I shared that review online and a few people told me they bought the
book just for that reason.

8. Everyone gets bad reviews.

It’s amazing, but even the greatest authors and books in history regularly receive 1-star and
negative reviews. I did a quick search on Amazon and Romeo and Juliet has twenty-two 1-star
reviews out of two hundred and sixty-seven total, or an astounding 8.2 percent. The Catcher in
the Rye (one of my all-time favorites) has three hundred and forty-four out of 3,341, or about
ten percent. How about the mega-selling Fifty Shades of Grey? It has more than twenty-seven
percent 1-star reviews. Ouch. Check this out: even the King James Bible has fifty-four out of
six hundred and thirty-three 1-star reviews, or more than 8.5 percent. I rest my case.

9. You’re nobody until somebody hates you.

A long time ago, I gave some advice to my dear friend M.L., a gifted art and music promoter
who put herself out there tirelessly to help others become successful. One time, it backfired
and she received a hurtful comment, so she came to me upset. “Congratulations,” I said. “You
know you’re breaking through and doing your job well when you start getting haters.” Jealousy
and envy are two poisonous emotions, but inevitable if you become worthy.

10. Who cares?

I mean, really… Does it matter? Of course it hurts, it stings, it sucks, but will it change
anything? No. They cannot ruin the experience for you – only YOU can ruin the experience for
you, so don’t allow that to happen. When you zoom out to a year from now, or even a month
from now, you probably won’t even remember the incident, or you may just laugh at it, so keep
an even keel. Keep perspective by focusing on the good things you’re doing and the wonderful
people giving you good, honest (though not always perfect) feedback.

Negativity goes BOOM! but quickly fades, while positivity echoes forever.

Okay, now how do you deal with the angry psychos and haters who attack you personally?

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There is one and only way: Kill them with kindness.

Seriously, when someone rips into you and you try to defend yourself or your book, you lose. If
you lower yourself to their level and try to retaliate, you lose. If you even try to explain your
position, you lose.

Why? Because you’ll look bad to the other people who read the reviews and comments. Think
of yourself like a big, established brand such as Coca-Cola. When someone rips into them, do
they add more fuel to the fire and respond? Or, at best, do they just send back an email or
comment saying, “Thank you for your suggestion. You’re complaint will be taken under
consideration”?

People will pay attention to how you conduct yourself and you can only lose this battle, never
win, unless you’re the consummate rainmaker. It’s not just the words you say but also the
energy you bring, and if you become nasty and negative to combat another nasty, negative
remark, you’ll lose credibility with your real audience. Be like Coca-Cola and no matter what,
write back emotionally cooling, affirmative words.

Also, your sunny disposition will piss the attacker off even more, which is fun. They’ll get
fired up and nasty, while you’ll just sit back and laugh. Give them just enough rope to hang
themselves with their own erratic temperament and THEY’LL show what a screwball they are
– you won’t need to do that work for them.

Humor is an amazing tone to use when writing back, too. Keep it fun and light and show
they’re not getting to you. But combine that humor with positivity – not making fun of them or
attacking them back.

You know what else you’ll find? When you remain neutral and respectful in the presence of a
hater, others will come to your rescue. And they can rip into that person and express a strong
opinion in your defense without making you look bad. But you’ll keep your role of classy,
unflappable mediator, and pretty soon you’ll be defending the attacker against attacks, which
makes you look like a combination of Mother Theresa and a cute newborn puppy.

Here’s an example, from someone who was voraciously opposed to the presence of an ad for
my book South of Normal on Facebook:

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51
Once I answered simply and affirmatively, he went on and on in a hurtful manner about why the
book was awful and I was even worse. He thought he was being cool and funny (and he’s
probably an all right guy once you unplug his computer), but when I wouldn’t take the bait and
let him reel me in, he grew more desperate with his personal attacks. Then my friends and
other readers I’ve never met stepped in and put him in check. He’s since erased all of his
original comments, not relishing his new role as social media bully. You’ll get people who
lash out at you behind the anonymity online because they are angry, depressed, cowardly, or
hurting inside, but realize that has nothing to do with you or your book so just wish them the
best and ignore it.

Speaking of anonymity, there does come a time when you don’t have to take abuse anymore.
But there is still a clever, humorous way to do it so you’re not just throwing more gas on their
fire.

Check out this blog I wrote exposing a hateful and threatening reviewer.

Hate Mail Can Be Fun!!!

Warning: the language is strong, so don’t read it you’re easily offended.

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 Chapter 10

Draft a mission statement, Why I write.

The iconic British writer George Orwell wrote a book called Why I Write. It’s not his best
work, packed with political ranting difficult to place in context for a reader in the next century
and across the big pond, but I still recognize it’s his most personal work. After reading that
book, I clearly and definitively know why George Orwell wrote.

You should define why you write, too. Think of it as a company mission statement, that guiding
set of principles and values that overrides and directs all action. Once you have your own
writing mission statement, you’ll be so much more focused on what you’re trying to
accomplish with your words, the messages you want to send, and to whom you’re talking. This
will also help you string together a common tone and theme in every book you write, as well
as blogs and social media messages you craft.

I recommend you also write a list of what kind of experience you want the reader to have as
they read your book (or blog, ot whatever), and define how you’re different than every other
book and author in your genre. What do you have to say that’s so different, better, new or fresh
that it’s worth adding to the mountain of millions of books in print? What tone do you want
your work to convey? Familiar, casual, authoritative, scholarly, fun, serious? This is your
Brand Directive.

It may seem a little bit rigid to go through these exercises but believe it or not, this structure
will help free you up creatively. Think of your writing as a wild stallion that blazes ahead at
dizzying speeds but can easily veer off course. Your mission statement is the jockey that
harnesses the wild stallion of your writing, making sure it keeps galloping in the right
direction.

This is my mission statement. I’d love to see yours once it’s written, so feel free to email it to
me.

Why I Write:

I write because I see things so fascinating in this world, they need to be documented.

I write to challenge people to think, shaking the branches of intellectual laziness we perch
on.

I write to tell people's stories, to be a witness to their existence so they know they’re not
alone.

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I write to make peoples’ lives better, to help them endure this fleeting time on earth, to
lighten their load.

I write to unite people, to swing a wrecking ball at the false barriers,

contrived differences, and petty fears we construct to protect ourselves but end up
becoming our prisons.

I write to fight for people who cannot fight for themselves.

I write to make people laugh and to give them joy, to make them feel more human.

I write to serve.

-Norm Schriever

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 Chapter 11

The essence of social media

Some of you are still trying to figure out how to set the timer on your VCR ten years too late
(like me), while others navigate the social media universe like Captain Kirk. But whether you
have ten thousand Twitter followers or you find yourself asking, “What’s this blog thing I keep
hearing about?” you’ll find some value in this chapter.

To be clear, I’m not a social media expert. A lot of brilliant techies are in the world. I am not
going to educate you about the nuts and bolts of social media – you can easily Google that and
find amazing information. What I will do is break down social media as it pertains to book
marketing for the self-published author.

To start, let’s look at an email I just received this morning. This is from someone I deeply
respect, a well known author who’s published a dozen books with a Big Six Publisher and is
also a highly-touted editor and screenwriter. He’s in the process of going the self-publishing
route for a side project and wants some social media and marketing assistance. Here’s what he
wrote:

“I have a Facebook page for myself and one for my upcoming novel and a Twitter account and
am setting up a blog. What else is there?”

What else is there, indeed? Writing a book and selling a book are two completely different
vocations. That email is from someone who’s a better writer and sold more books than I can
ever hope. A lot of bad books sell well, and even more incredible stories collect dust on the
shelves (or in your garage). But I also wanted to celebrate his genius question.

Let me oversimplify the essence of social media.

Social media is a vehicle for connecting with people and sharing messages, ideas,
entertainment, news, art and, in this case, a book. Think of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and
others as your own TV station. You get to choose all of the programming your viewers will see
and schedule when it’s on.

Everyone wants social media to allow them to sell ten thousand books instantly, but here’s
another secret to book marketing: the way to do that is to sell one book, ten thousand times.
There are no magic shortcuts. If you were a door-to-door salesperson selling encyclopedias
back in the day, you’d have to knock on one door at a time. But the good news is now you can
conduct those ten thousand transactions concurrently and efficiently - via social media.

If social media won’t do the work for you – if it’s only a channel or a vehicle – then how will

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it help?

We talked earlier about going to the mall and walking into your favorite store to buy
something, but then assuming a karate stance when the friendly salesperson says hi. I also
mentioned that sales is a process – of meeting someone, getting to know a little about them,
forming a friendship, establishing trust that you can solve their problem, filling a need, or
providing value – and only then the transaction ensues. That sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t
have to take months or even weeks, those steps can happen lightning fast, even as someone
sees your website, your book cover, reads one of your tweets, or is just types something into a
search engine. Social media can facilitate and foster those steps incredibly well with a little
thought and planning, whether you’re at your computer, on the beach or sleeping soundly.

Think about using social media like meeting a stranger at the supermarket.

You happen to be at a supermarket at 4 p.m. on a Tuesday.

You’re in the cereal aisle at the same time as someone. (In the same vicinity.)
You both reach for the same box at the same time and end up laughing and saying
hello. (Meeting.)
You chat cordially and introduce yourselves. (First impression.)
You hit it off or find out you have mutual interests. (Something in common.)
You decide to exchange information and keep in touch. (Commit to further the
friendship.)
Over time, you build a lasting relationship. (Establish trust and credibility.)

That’s exactly what social media can do for you, but instead of bumping into someone
randomly at the grocery store, you “bump into them” via social media. You still introduce
yourself, connect or find something in common, keep up the correspondence, and eventually
build a trusting friendship. Again, this doesn’t have to take a long time – it can happen as soon
as they watch a video of you talking about your book or read one of your blog posts. And
thanks to social media, you two will always be in the same “cereal aisle” together. They’ll see
your posts, tweets, videos, images, how you conduct yourself and who you are, even when
you’re not actively at the controls. They’ll get to know your personality, the circumstances of
your life, your challenges, hopes, dreams and desires, and glean your sense of humor.
Conversely, you’ll learn theirs.

Think of social media connections as one big prolonged conversation, where neither side
necessarily needs to be present. However, there are also stages to these social media
connections, an etiquette that, if violated, will turn things awkward and probably end any
chance of a friendship.

So it’s important with social media to pay attention to the etiquette and stages of a natural
relationship. Don’t start with “BUY my book” but make sure to introduce yourself, stay in

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touch and build that friendship. If you were reaching for that same cereal box, but instead of
smiling and saying hi, you casually said, “Let’s be lifelong friends,” that person would
probably move on from the Rice Krispies and call for security.

So you want to sell ten thousand books? The great news is you can do that via social media by
initiating those ten thousand supermarket meetings.

Efficiently
Laser-focused on your target market
Simultaneously
All over the world
Inexpensive or free

For book marketing, try to form and expand these literary friendships, not just garner
impersonal “likes” or followers or blog hits. Focus on the quality and depth of those
relationships and being in as many “cereal aisles” as possible at the same time, with a big
smile and a quick “hello.” Inevitably you’ll sell a lot of books, but even better, you’ll create a
legion of fans and supporters – your brand ambassadors.

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 Chapter 12

Your sales funnel

Your sales funnel is the process by which you move your audience from attraction to
engagement, to trust and credibility, to purchasing a book and eventually becoming your brand
ambassador. Be sure to examine your marketing to clearly define your sales funnel. I aim to
interest people via social media and then bring them to my blog. I try to give them a great, non-
salesy experience over there to earn their trust and get them feeling good. Then, I move them
onto having experiences with my book by giving them sample chapters to read for free, audio
readings, fun photos and occasional free downloads of the eBook with no strings attached.
Next, they’re moving along to eventually purchasing the book, and if they like that, then my first
book, too.

But that’s just the start for me and I’ll tell you why.

I’m greedy – I don’t just want their $14.95 now, I want them to be a loyal fan of the brand I’m
building for life. I want them to read all of my blogs and articles and books. I’d rather give
away ten thousand books now (as long as it doesn’t cost me) and establish a huge fan base that
loyally helps me spread the word and purchases my work in the future than squirrel away
every dollar of potential books sales. Think of yourself as a Cadillac salesperson who wants
to find ten thousand people and give them free test drives of your newest, best model. That’s
what you want to do with your sales funnel – let people test drive your content and turn them
into loyal Cadillac owners for life.

To be clear, of course I want people to buy the book, but I can’t control that. What I can
control is how many people test-drive it. Some will buy now, while others might come back
later when they’re ready. Even better, if they have a good test drive and like the salesman,
they’ll tell their friends, family, and coworkers, encouraging them to take test drives, too. And
every few years they might renew their lease or look to get a Cadillac for their wife or upgrade
to the newer model.

The people who become big fans and help spread the word are called brand ambassadors,
though I just call them friends or peeps. Take great care of them. Kevin Kelley says that artists
only need a thousand true fans to earn a good living because true fans will buy everything the
artist releases and spread the word. They stay loyal as long as the artist is in constant direct
contact with them. Hugh Howey, who wrote and self-published the mega-hit Wool, believes in
focusing all of his time and energy on his brand ambassadors, not worrying about trying to find
new readers. If your ambassadors feel the love and you stay in contact, they’ll do the
advertising for you. So creating these friendships is my real end goal – not just collecting
$14.95

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Examine your sales funnel as you build your social media marketing campaign and make sure
there are no glaring holes – everything should lead somewhere else with calls to action like
“Read this other blog post,” or “Download a free eBook sample,” or “Signup for email
updates.” By building it correctly, you’ll sell plenty of books and build legions of brand
ambassadors who take care of you for life.

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Chapter 13

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 The four stages of book marketing
There are a few things you should put some time and thought into before you’re ready to market
the book, or even self-publish it. Some basic prep work is crucial to effectively marketing the
book as you get much busier later on, and I’m guessing if you’re now in the final editing or
rewriting stage of your story, some fun marketing tasks will be a welcome change.

When you’re staring at your hot-off-the-press self-published book, it can be extremely

overwhelming trying to execute all of the marketing activities necessary all at once. I’ll explain
more about these tasks in depth later on, but I suggest breaking them into these four stages to
prioritize.

Prep Work:

Have all of the book’s technical information on hand (ISBN #, page count, self-
publisher name, genre, credits, etc.)
Draft a long biography about the book – probably about seven hundred to eight
hundred words. Make sure it’s dynamic and jumps off the page.
Condense that into a short biography around two hundred and fifty to four hundred
words.
Upload several great author photos that you’ll use throughout social media. I suggest
having a professional photographer help you.
Shoot a bunch of video footage of you talking directly to your audience.
Set up an excel spreadsheet with all your social media user names, passwords, and
links to the blogs you write and media coverage you garner.

Level 1:
Set up your Facebook author or fan page (make this for your book if you’re only
going to write one. Or make it an author page, branding yourself, if you’re going to
keep writing.)
Set up your Twitter account.
Fill out your Amazon author profile.
Get your blog started and looking good.

Level 2:
Write a press release.
Establish your YouTube channel.
Edit your video footage into a book trailer video and author message videos and
upload.
Build out your website.

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 Fill out your Goodreads profile.
Register for a Hootsuite or social media sharing account.
Sign up for Pinterest, Instagram and other social media outlets, depending on your
demographic.

Level 3
This is when you get into all of the fun, experimental book marketing techniques, trying things
that aren’t necessities but can differentiate your brand if successful. Once you have the simple
things down, you’ll really enjoy brainstorming and branching out with marketing tactics.

A note about synchronicity: Almost everything you produce can be used elsewhere, so keep
everything organized and labeled properly so you can find it later – you’ll be surprised how
quickly content and links add up. For instance, video links, blog links, media links can be
shared via Facebook, Twitter, on your Amazon profile page, on your blog, in press releases,
through your email signature and elsewhere. There’s synchronicity to all of the marketing
materials we produce, so rest assured nothing is a waste of time or will be used only once.

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 Chapter 14

Marketing tips, techniques, and strategies

1. Twitter, the book marketer’s best friend.

If there was only ONE social media platform you could chose to promote your book and grow
your audience, it’s Twitter, hands down. Twitter is the number most powerful method to
expand your reach further than your local community and friends. Too often, I see new authors
promoting the heck out of their work to people they already know on Facebook. They’re trying
to score quick sales, but not putting 1/10 one-tenth of the same time or effort into Twitter, a
better connection to the whole wide world of people who they don’t know but might want their
book, read their blog, or just share their interests. If you have good information and value to
offer and aren’t just trying to be a used car salesman, the results on Twitter can be explosive! .

You can read hundreds of articles by social media gurus that explain why Twitter is so
amazing, but I’ll try to hit the high points:

With #hashtags you can interact with people from all over the world who
are interested in those same topics (focused target marketing).
Likewise, you can mention anyone by their Twitter handle or name by
using @, pulling in eyeballs from their fans or audience.
A blog or post you share via Twitter can go viral at any time.
It’s easy to establish micro communities and build an engaged, loyal
following and support network via Twitter.
Retweets make it easier to reach that critical mass needed for your blog or
post to go viral.
Twitter has been described as more sophisticated, intelligent and “mature”
than Facebook.
Twitter posts are limited to one hundred and forty characters, so brevity is
necessary and even rewarded.

The best results I’ve achieved in my writing and marketing career have been through Twitter.

More than three hundred thousand people around the world read a blog I wrote defending Miss
American against racism.

Five hundred thousand people read or saw my updates on Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines,
helping me land on the Anderson Cooper show, CNN, ABC, Good Morning America, Outside
Magazine, and media in Australia, Japan, Israel, Russia and England.

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The point is all of that exposure didn’t cost me a dime. It also didn’t take me any longer than
my usual routine – write a blog or video, post it online and share it via social media. But
thanks to Twitter, I had huge numbers of people find my content, come to my blog, buy my
books and, most importantly, turn into online friendships.

By the way, there’s no better feeling than the first time one of your blogs or posts catches fire
and makes waves in the big wild world. If you want to read a case study of a blog I wrote
about DJ Jazzy Jeff that went viral on Twitter, earning thirteen thousand website hits within
forty-eight hours, click here. To be clear, thirteen thousand hits is a BAD day for a lot of big
authors and social media experts, but for me at the time, it was the biggest break of my young
career as a blogger. Celebrate your forward progress without comparing yourself to others.

Please remember it’s not all about you on Twitter. Think of it like being at a party. You
wouldn’t just talk about yourself the whole time, would you? So don’t just post your own
content and links, but share other tweets (by retweeting), comment on tweets, ask questions and
poll people. That’s the best way to increase your following and start genuine introductions.

2. Create your Facebook Fan Page.

Facebook is a terrific way to reach out to your family, friends, coworkers, local community
and one or two levels of their friends. It’s been described as a big coffee shop where you’re
free to mingle around and introduce yourself to everyone in attendance.

You probably have a personal Facebook account but you’ll want to set up a page to promote
your book, too. Fan pages are different than personal accounts. People will just “like” your
page and become a fan without you having to deal with friend requests. There will be a lot of
crossover, but it’s also important to have this fan page separately because not everyone on
your friend’s list is going to want to see your messages, blogs, posts about your book all the
time. You’ll end up with a lot of fans on your professional page that aren’t your FB friends,
too.

How should you set up your fan page? If you only plan on writing one book then make the fan
page in your book name. However, if you plan on writing more books in the future, set up the
page under your author name. You probably don’t need both because it takes a lot of time and
work just to manage one page correctly, but it can’t hurt if you wanted to go that route. Once
you have your page set up, post all of your updates, photos, events, blogs and news to that
page. Make sure to interact with fans and involve them personally so it’s a conversation, not
just you talking (and no one listening).

One note: don’t setup your author page with you as a public figure. People see that as a little
ridiculous and arrogant unless you’ve “made it.”

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Use Facebook but don’t let it become your default marketing portal. I’m guilty of this
sometimes, but it becomes my number one distraction while I try to get some writing done. Too
often, I leave FB open and every time someone messages me or comments, I jump over there
and start chatting. That’s not marketing – that’s procrastinating. So the best advice I can offer is
to close our your Facebook and even turn off your internet while you’re writing so it won’t be
a distraction. A better way to manage Facebook for marketing is to use it through a social
media scheduling platform like Hootsuite (more on that later).

You can take a look at Facebook to promote your work through pay-per-click ads, but be
careful. They work well only when you have a super specific target market, set a daily dollar
limit on what you want to spend, and realize there might not be a direct correlation between
people who click on the FB ad and actual sales. I think there’s definitely a time and place to
use these ads, but the reach and impact of paid advertising on Facebook is on the decline, so
unless you have a significant marketing budget, there may be better places to spend money.

3. Build a website.

Putting together a good website is crucial to marketing and selling your books. The goal of
your sales funnel should be to get people over to your website. From there, you want to very
simply and quickly explain who you are, what your brand is all about, and convey what kind of
end user experience they’re in for when they buy your book, read your blog, watch your
videos, etc.

The number one goal of your site is to make sure web visitors have a good experience so you
can engage them as new “literary friends.” Think of it as your clubhouse – you want cool
people to come in and then hang out and have fun as long as possible. Hitting them over the
head with banners and popups and flashy demands to BUY BUY BUY NOW won’t do that.
Treat them with sophistication. Don’t insult their intelligence. Let them come in, sit down, put
their feet up and relax. They’ll thank you for it.

Note: A lot of other successful marketers and book gurus differ from me on this point. They
emphasize ALWAYS driving for the sale, driving to get the email address, forcing the user to
engage or log off. I suggest you read about their philosophies as well and find out what’s right
for you, but my advice is to treat your web visitor exactly the way you’d want to be treated if
you visited someone else’s site.

The nuts and bolts every author website should have.

1) Home page: this is also a landing page, where you want all web traffic to be directed. I like
to keep them uncluttered but still convey some personality and what your brand is all about.
You’ll want to display your book on the home page, but just enough to have them click to a
more comprehensive page about it. From your home page they’ll be able to navigate the whole
site cleanly and without confusion. At first, your instinct will be to jam your homepage and

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website with tons of content and bells and whistles. I promise you this – the simpler, the better.

2) Book pages: Have a dedicated page for each of your books, including your long bio, photos,
your book trailer video, and a clear link to buy (whether it takes them to Amazon.com or you
sell right off your site.) This is a good place to offer a sample of the book to download for
free.

3) Video trailer or video message from the author: These will really spruce up your website
and give you a far greater chance of visitors staying, watching and becoming engaged.

4) Free giveaway: I’ll cover this more later, but somewhere on your site you want to give
away something for free with no strings attached. I offer the first three chapters of my book as a
downloadable PDF.

5) About the author: One page should be dedicated to you as the author. Post your author bio
and also a few pictures of yourself but don’t forget to have fun and NOT be boring.

6) Media page: Have one web page solely for media with basic contact info, a short book and
author bio, any awards, accolades or prestigious reviews, and a downloadable press release
or request form for one.

7) Twitter feed: A great way to bring movement and live content to your site in a small space
is through an integrated Twitter feed on your home page.

8) Social sharing buttons: Don’t forget to put links to your Facebook, Twitter, and other social
media platforms, and also a place for them to share your site or book on their social media
sites.

9) Contact info: Have you ever gone on a website and couldn’t find their phone number or
email address for the life of you? Don’t make that mistake – prominently display it on the site’s
header.

10) Poll questions, comment forms: Your audience wants you to talk WITH them, not AT them,
so feel free to include a lot of tools to interact – polls, questions, chances for them to comment.

11) Blog: You DEFINITELY want a dedicated blog page on your website. Much more on this
later.

12) Resources or other referral partners: Oftentimes, it’s not needed, but if you’re in business
or collaborating with others, it’s good marketing karma to include links to their pages, projects
and services on a miscellaneous resource page. For instance, a writing coach might also
advertise a good editor, graphic design person, self-publisher. However, if it’s not a good fit
for your book, leave it off for the sake of simplicity.

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13) Speaker page: If you plan to make speaking engagements a big part of your platform,
include a dedicated page that has a videos of your speaking gigs, basic info about your
credentials, what themes you can speak about, “pricing available upon request,” testimonials
from past engagements, and a contact form.

14) Basic analytics: You’ll want to know how many people are coming to your site, from
where, which blog posts are the most popular, etc. Installing some sort of measuring capability
(like Google Analytics) will allow you to track what marketing is working.

But…NO music. (It annoys people.)

Also, I suggest you don’t pollute your author website with too many services. For instance, a
lot of authors have several pages devoted to alternate revenue streams: a speaking page, but

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then a page as a writing coach, book marketing coach, selling workshops, on and on. I
understand we all need to make a buck, but I believe if you have too many services it distracts
from your book and brand as an author.

Where can you get your website built?

There are plenty of options for all budgets when building your website.

1) Custom web design: You can hire a designer to build your site from scratch. It will cost a
chunk of change (prices vary so wildly it’s not even worth guesstimating) and can take some
time, but should come out exactly how you want it. If you have a budget this might work for
you, but always remember you’ll need it updated frequently, so have them install a system for
you to make basic content changes without their help (or additional payments). Black Dog
Studios in California is a great company if you’re looking to have your site made.

2) WordPress or a similar platform: WordPress started as a blogging site but evolved into
much more. There are many ways to customize WordPress pages to turn them into fully
functioning websites. To build one, you can Google how-to articles and go-it alone, or hire
someone for a small fee to set it all up for you.

3) DIY: There are also do-it-yourself platforms like Weebly.com, and dozens of similar
options. It’s pretty simple once you learn your way around their system and you have hundreds
of templates, layouts, designs to choose from. I use Weebly.com and love it (and no, they don’t
pay me a cent – unfortunately) because it allows me to make changes on the fly and I have
analytics, an integrated blog, and easy ways to add photos, videos and e-commerce buttons.
Drop me an email if you want some help building your site with them.

4. Blog through your website.

You’ll want to write a blog often (though it doesn’t have to be daily) to fill the search engines
with information about the topic of your book, as valuable, easily searchable content. This will
get your name higher in the search engines, drive people to your site and ultimately increase
book sales by big numbers. But a key part of that sales process is getting people to your site
and keeping them there with good content – pulling them into your sales funnel. That’s why I
recommend you have your blog on your website. There’s nothing that inhibits sales more than
when a company has their blog separate from their main website, where all the good stuff is
happening. Any time you make viewers click again and again in order to head over to the main
site, you’ll probably lose ninety-nine percent of your traffic. But if your blog is in the same
place as the rest of your website content, it will all be fluid and you’ll see an exponentially
higher conversation rate. So whether you’re designing your site yourself or hiring someone,
make sure your blog is built right into your website. Even Wordpress and Blogger have ways
to integrate their code right into your website.

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5. Blog to sell books and influence people.

Blogging great content consistently and sharing it correctly, is probably the most beneficial
book marketing activity. We could easily write a whole book about blogging (and I probably
will soon) but I want to give you a snapshot of tips to get started.

Below are my twenty golden rules for blogging, but drop me an email and I’m happy to send
you a bonus chapter that goes further in depth about blogging, including the ten stages to
writing a blog, best practices and how to increase your blog’s readership by two hundred and
twenty-seven percent.

By now you should be thinking like a marketer and business person, not just an author and, in
fact, businesses who consistently blog receive one hundred and twenty-six percent more leads
than those who do not. They also see fifty-five percent more visitors to their web pages. But
just writing any old blog isn't enough -- if you're not producing fresh, dynamic and interesting
content, you may be sending the wrong message about your brand.

Here are twenty golden rules to help you build a great blog around your book:

1. Give it a snappy, interesting title.

Remember a potential reader will only see your title and maybe a thumbnail photo first, but
they need to be motivated enough to click - so make it a good one. A play on words works
fantastic, evoking familiarity but deviating enough to draw interest. Question-based titles work
great, too, as do numbered lists.

2. Keep it short.
A blog is one thought, one question, or one idea. The more direct and succinct you are, the
better.

3. Lead, don't follow.

You should write your blog with the genuine intent of reaching your specific target
demographic with a message that somehow makes their life better – not follow around popular
stories and emulate drivel because you think it will go viral or sell a lot of product.

4. Produce original content.

Create content you would want to click on, read and share, nothing less.

5. Consistency is key.
Add to your blog at least a few times a week. Too often, companies write one lengthy post and
then nothing else for a month. That’s the worst thing you can do – you're basically showing
your client base that interacting with them is far down on your to-do list.

6. Stay human.

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Be authentic, funny, self-deprecating, admit your mistakes and be genuinely human. People
don't want to read something written by a robot. Of course, you'll want to be personal without
being inappropriate or crossing the line into politics, religion or anything offensive or
polarizing.

7. Social media and blogging are not the same.

A slick social media campaign by itself, will do nothing but push around other people's ideas,
links and messages, not your own. A company should produce quality content and disseminate
it correctly – the intersection of social media and content marketing. Content is king and
platform is queen.

8. Don't focus on the wrong things.

Too many companies fall into the trap of being overly concerned with how many "likes" or
followers they have. Your goal is establish yourself as a credible expert, build trust and bring
clients into the sales cycle. All the impersonal social media metrics in the world won't take the
place of a few great client relationships.

9. Use photos.
Always include photos in your blog. Photos trigger the function of "mind mapping," helping
attract people and aiding in processing the text. Tweets with a photo are clicked three hundred
and fifty percent more than just links, which means they are three hundred and fifty percent
more likely to draw interest than text alone.

10. Always include a call to action.

Your blog should motivate the reader to do one specific thing. Click on a link, answer a
question, submit a contact form, take advantage of an offer, signup for updates. Blogs that offer
interesting content but don't have a call to action are like nice roads that lead nowhere.

11. Engage.
A blog should never talk to your audience. It should be a forum to talk with your audience. So
use your blog as a conversation starter to engage the reader and begin a great relationship.

12. Put your blog on your website.

It's hard enough to get people motivated to read and share your posts, but you seriously hinder
the chance of them taking the next step when your blog is not on your website.

13. Don't be "salesy."

Never overtly push a transaction on them. Instead, solve problems, fill needs and gauge
opinions. Explore issues, values and challenges your target demographic has but never use a
blog as a chance to talk about yourself and barrage them with sales messages – that's what
billboards and cheesy infomercials are for.

14. Break up the text.

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No one wants to read text these days. Opening up an article and seeing line after line of words
will ensure your blog never gets read. Instead, make your blog psychologically comfortable for
the reader by breaking up text into manageable chunks with photos, sub headers, bullet points
and lists as eye anchors.

15. Measure your results.

Attach some sort of analytics to your blog so you can measure how many people read it, where
they came from, who shared it, how long they stayed on your website – valuable information
so you can do more of what works well.

16. Link it up.

Include links to plenty of other blogs you've written, outside articles, your business and
referral partners and community resources.

17. Educate and entertain.

The goal of a blog is not to give so much technical information that you make the reader an
expert, but to prove that you’re the expert and can be trusted as a credible and honest person to
solve their problems. Write technical posts if you’d like, but also reader questions,
testimonials and plenty of blogs that are just interesting or entertaining, as well.

18. Write topical and evergreen information.

Writing about current affairs will get you a lot of page views in the short-term, but will
become less relevant over time. So mix in plenty of blogs with evergreen information – content
that never dies or becomes outdated.

19. Feature other great people in your blog.

Pull in quotes, opinions and guest blogging features from other professionals you’ve used,
other authors, media people, fans and readers, and even authors in the same genre. Remember
there’s no real competition. By sharing the spotlight with other smart, credible people, you
demonstrate to readers that you care about them first and foremost, not chasing profit.

20. Repackage and repost information.

Don’t be afraid to take the core content of your blogs and rewrite it, shorten it, expand it to
share in other formats and places on the web. This works especially well for practical content
and Q&As.

Email me and I’ll send you that bonus chapter, going further in depth about how to blog to
promote your book.

Note: From a marketing perspective, do you see what purpose that serves? If you find this
information valuable so far, I get to continue the conversation with you, the reader, when you
email me.

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6. Register your domain names.

So how about your URL (web address)? If you plan on writing only one book, you should
probably get a custom domain that has something to do with the book’s title. Keep it short. If
the book title doesn’t translate well to a custom URL, try a web address that expresses what
the book is about instead.

For instance, my book, South of Normal, could be www.SouthOfNormal.com (if it was

available.) Since it’s already taken, I could easily use: www.CostaRicaTravelBook.com or
www.BestExpatBook.com or something like that to highlight the demographic, not the title.

However, if you’re going to write more than one book, I suggest setting up the web address in
your name as an author, or perhaps the name of the series or brand. That way you won’t have
to build a new website every time you release a book or product.

No matter what you choose, you want to brand one thing. Having three different websites only
means you’ll confuse and divide your potential audience. Be clear. Be simple. And be all in
one place.

The good news is you can do BOTH. My website is NormSchriever.com but it’s also
NormWrites.com (I’ll explain why later). And if SouthOfNormal.com frees up, I’ll probably
snatch up that one, too. But when someone types in either of those, they all go to the same main
site. I can set up as many domain addresses as I want to point to the NormSchriever.com site.
So I can market the other websites as keyword based separate entities, or landing pages for
promotions, but no matter what it will bring them to the same place – me.

7. Write a bio for the book.

As you’re finishing up writing your book and starting the self-publishing process, you’ll need
to write copy for the back cover. That will be the basically the same as your short book bio.
As you go through and start setting up social media and book selling platforms, almost all of
them will have an area to enter a description of the book. Write a full version that’s about five
to six hundred words, but also a shorter one at about two hundred and fifty words for sites that
only allow a few sentences.

Write it in dynamic language that isn’t standard or boring. (Don’t waste your word count on
words like ‘great, big, interesting, exciting, fun.’) You might need to adapt or update this book
bio as you go, but it will save you time and energy if you have a couple of versions saved so
you can copy and paste them in any about or bio section online.

8. Write an author bio.

Just like you wrote a biography specifically for the book, you’ll want to write a longer, and

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then shorter, bio solely about you as a writer. Be sure to mention any awards, accomplishments
or special designations as well as the highpoints of your media appearances. Don’t be bland or
formulaic on this. Spend some time to really capture to the essence of who you are as a writer
and the personality you want your brand to convey. Make it fun, dynamic, energetic and use the
active, third person voice as if someone was talking about you, not you writing it yourself.

9. Setup your author pages.

Chances are you’ll be selling your book on platforms like Amazon.com and
BarnesandNoble.com, and listing it on social media sites dedicated just to books like
Goodreads and Shelfari (if you haven’t heard of them yet, now you have). As you register your
book on those sites, remember they allow you to set up a page dedicated to you as an author,
too. By now, you have a great description of the book, a personal author bio, videos and cool
photos, so make sure to use all of these things on your author profile pages, as well as
including your email address, link to your Facebook, Twitter, website. Some sites allow you
to integrate your Twitter feed and even your blog so it updates automatically, which is a great
tool.

10. Set up your YouTube channel.

You’ll want a YouTube account, but more than just having a login and password as a user,
create your own channel. That allows you to upload and share your videos on your own page,
with a clear theme, channel name, and your contact information. People who like one of your
videos can easily click back to your channel and check out the rest of your content. They can
even leave comments so you can interact with a new audience. .

Here is more info on setting up YouTube channels.

Note: YouTube integrates with Google and Google and Blogger.com integrate with Gmail, so
it’s good to have a Gmail email account to use for all of them.

11. Shoot author videos.

Since you have your video camera out or cell phone’s camera on, it’s time to shoot a few short
videos that feature you, the author. This is a GREAT way to connect with your audience on a
human level and display your personality. There are a few I suggest making:

1. Shoot a video where you say thank you, to your audience. Speak from the heart. Go
unscripted so your genuine appreciation comes out. It doesn’t have to be long – just thank them
for buying the book, supporting your work, sharing it with their friends, and let them know you
appreciate them as people, not just readers. Be true to it and humble.

2. You can also shoot a video introducing yourself as the author and outline the basic story of

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the book, encouraging them to go to your website or Amazon to check it out.

3. Another video can follow up with people who you know have already bought the book,
asking them to post a review.

4. Make a video announcing any giveaways, contests or special events you’re offering.

5. Set up a mock interview on camera. Write out ten questions ahead of time and then sit in a
chair and answer them on this video, as if a reporter was sitting across from you. But instead
of someone voicing the questions, just post them as text on images before each answer.

6. Shoot a series where readers ask questions or make comments and you answer them directly
on camera.

7. Want to get a little creative? Shoot a character confessional, where you or someone else is
sitting in a dark room (you know the kind on TV where their face is blurred and voice
changed?) pretending to be a controversial character from the book as you interview them or
they answer provocative questions.

8. Last thing – a cool series is to shoot a quick video of you personally thanking one fan or
reader for buying the book, their review, or a positive comment they made. Do this once a
week, like “Thank You Fridays.” People will start looking forward to it and your viewership
will go through the roof.

Like everything we do, these videos can be used in many places and at many times to create
marketing momentum, spreading awareness about your brand even when you’re not at the helm.
Upload them to your YouTube channel and post or email the link via social media every time
it’s justified.

Here is one of my author videos.

12. Make a video trailer.

A fast-paced, fun video with great music will engage people and promote your book one
hundred times better than simple text. Think of it like this: if a Hollywood studio was making a
movie about your book and you went into a cinema and sat down to watch the coming
attractions, what would it look like? Keep it short – usually ninety seconds to three minutes or
so is best. But tell a story in the trailer that builds intrigue and excitement without giving away
the ending. Write an outline to plan it first, so the video trailer is tight and organized. I use
iMovie to put it together, the free movie making application for Mac users. If you have the
budget, spend big money to hire a professional production company or hire a teenager or
college kid who knows how to make movies well.

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Here are some elements you can add to your video:

1. Video clips you’ve shot, even if they’re from your phone.

2. Photographs of your subject matter.
3. You can download videos from YouTube or the web and use clips of
those (with permission).
4. Grab applicable photos off the web (with permission).
5. Add a musical soundtrack that comes in and out around speaking or
any other sounds. Make sure you have copyright permission to use the
song (you can usually pay a small fee for the rights to use it) or
YouTube might inhibit where you can share the video, restricting
views from mobile devices.
6. Voice-over narratives you record work well.
7. Add storyboards and creative use of text, including sizes and colors
to make it dynamic. By the way, a great way to convert text, photos
and storyboards into images to be used in your movies is to add them
to PowerPoint slides and then save them as .jpegs (photo formats).
8. Make sure the video escalates. Any good story is like a rubber band
that gets pulled tighter and tighter and then is released (or snaps).
You can create the same feeling in your video not only with the
elements of the story, but the format. Start out with mellow music and
a slower pace – meaning the photos, videos and text that will show
on the screen for longer and have less movement. As the video goes
on, shorten the length of each of these elements and increase the
volume of the music to create urgency. Show things that give the
viewer a sense of danger, mystery, intrigue or conflict, just like any
good movie trailer, until it’s so fast, it’s ready to burst. At the end,
slow it down again to the gentle, calm state that you started in.
9. Insert a slide or photo as an introduction and also at the end. The
intro should have your book title, name and book cover image. That
is what will show as a thumbnail when you share the video. At the
end, show the book info and your name again but also your website,
twitter or email. Slow that one down so the viewer has plenty of time
to write down your contact info or call to action before it fades to
black…
10. Give credit to anyone who helped with the video, or music or video
sources. Tell them where the book is available to buy.

Once the video is done, upload it to your YouTube channel. You’ll get a link so you can easily
promote it. Add the link everywhere, including press release emails, your email signature,
social media posts and on your website – people will love it!

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Here are my video trailers for South of Normal and Pushups in the Prayer Room.

Email me the link to your video once you’ve made it.

13. Write a press release.

You’ll want to write a clean, tight, professional press release and send it out to media outlets. I
recommend drafting a release that highlights the local angle of you as a hometown author, and
then one to media in your home state. Next, write a release for national media that is topic or
story-driven. Spend some time getting this right – you’ll want to read a bunch of articles on
writing press releases and write several drafts, rereading, updating and editing as you go.

Press releases contain a standard format and all the necessary elements for an editor to learn
the nuts and bolts of your story quickly. Editors and reporters are extremely busy, moving at a
lightning pace and flooded with story pitches and releases. So make sure you grab their
attention by being clear about what’s unique, interesting, fun or different about your particular
story. “I wrote a book and I think it’s great,” isn’t a story. No one cares. So the appeal of your
release should be one hundred percent about readers and viewers, and why they’ll be super
interested in this story. Tie in any statistics, current events, famous people and examples of
similar huge national headlines that apply. Take advantage of key dates and the reporter’s need
for current relative content. There are websites and services (like HARO, Help A Reporter
Out) that connect you with media looking for content.

There’s a correct protocol for how to get the press release over to the media. It most certainly
will be via email (some media sites have their own contact forms to submit, so they’re not
flooded with emails). You’ll want to individually address the editor, writer or media person
you’re emailing, write a two to three sentence summary of the pitch, how they can get more
information, where to contact you and wrap it all up with a snappy, yet professional, subject
line. Be interesting but don’t sensationalize. If the press release has anything to do with your
book, ask if they prefer a copy mailed to their office or just dropped off – notice the option
NOT to get a copy wasn’t mentioned.

I recommend you start by searching online and making a master excel spreadsheet of the
different media outlets by category (newspapers, magazines, online, radio, TV) first in your
hometown then state and nationally. Click around to find out who’s the appropriate person to
accept pitches and press releases for your topic. Put their name, department, email address and
any other notes on your spreadsheet.

If you’re thinking about cutting corners by emailing out a generic press release and sending it
to a bunch of people at once, stop right there. You’ll want to customize the subject line and
personally address the person and the media outlet at the least, and possibly alter a few other
details as needed. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an efficient process for clipping and

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pasting the body and actual release to the email (never include attachments) and then
customizing what’s needed.

When my books are first released, I have a goal of emailing out about fifty press releases a
day. I mark it off on my spreadsheet with the date it was sent and to whom. If I haven’t heard
back in a month or two, or when something relevant comes up or changes, I update my press
release and send it again.

What results will you get? Maybe some, maybe none, but it’s all a numbers game. Start with
smaller and local media outlets to build a buzz and get practice, and then you’ll be able to
leverage that momentum later on. I’ve ended up being interviewed on NBC news during
primetime just from a press release, but I’ve also heard a lot of crickets and been frustrated by
the lack of response, so don’t take it personally. Does it all sound like a ton of time and hard
work? It is, but it’s worth it, so don’t rush – do it right.

14. Offer a free download on your website.

Some of the best book marketing advice I’ve heard (I’d love to give credit but I don’t
remember where I read it) is to offer a free download of the first three chapters of your book
on your website. But here’s the key – make sure no strings are attached. They don’t need to
sign in, leave an email address or give any information. They can just click a button and
download the PDF of those first three chapters (or any three chapters that are particularly
entertaining and will make sense on their own.) Of course you’ll spread the word about this
free giveaway via social media and it will amount to terrific advertising. Think of it as a
sampler, like if someone let you eat a handful of potato chip for free and offered to sell you the
rest of the bag. If someone likes the writing and gets hooked on the characters and the story,
they’ll buy the whole book immediately, or at the least, pay closer attention to your blog, email
you, like you on Facebook, and follow you on Twitter.

15. Presell your books.

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There’s nothing wrong with offering your book for sale a couple of months ahead of time via
your website or Amazon. You can offer the early buyers something of value if they order ahead
of the official release, like signing their book, include a free eBook or emailing them a bonus
chapter. This might help you pay off some of the publishing or printing costs and get the
marketing ball rolling.

16. Set up a shortened URL.

My website is www.NormSchriever.com, which is too long and hard to spell, and I knew I
was in trouble with that one when I started doing radio interviews. The gracious host would
ask me to tell the listeners where they could buy books or check out my website and I would
take approximately ninety seconds trying to spell and then respell and re-re-spell my last name,
only to have exactly zero people get it. So instead of lowering myself to “It’s Schriever like
Just Bieber and sounds like Beaver but with an S and a V,” I just registered the URL
www.NormWrites.com and got it pointed to my main site. Now, I’m in business because it’s
easy for people to find.

17. Ask people to test read your book.

Get people interested in your book by asking them to test read ahead of time and offer
feedback. They might catch some editing that needs to be done, expose areas of the book that
are unclear, unnecessary or need adaptation. I recommend giving only two to three chapters to
each person, and don’t worry if they don’t do their homework completely or on time – it’s the
thought that counts. But they’ll appreciate the pre-release peek at your work and help you with
early reviews and building interest. And if you want professional editing and proofreading,
you’ll have to pay for it. I use Rebecca T. Dickinson, a fantastic editor and book coach with a
wealth of information.

Another way to get test readers is to join an author’s group where you read and review each
other’s books. But no matter if you enlist friends or co-authors, they’ll all be allies in the
project and help you spread the word.

18. Get a celebrity to endorse your book or write the foreword.

A celebrity or famous person getting behind your book can’t hurt, so invite a few to write the
foreword. Or, ask them to submit a blurb for the back cover and marketing purposes, and have
them take a picture with the book. You can usually reach out to celebrities through their
management companies, but of course they’ll probably want a fee. Don’t know any celebrities?
Who do you know and who do they know? You can also enlist an authority or expert in the
subject matter of your book to write the foreword, which still gives you a well-know name
amongst that topic to leverage into marketing.

I got lucky with my first book, Pushups in the Prayer Room, when Shock G from Digital

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Underground read the book and wrote a glowing paragraph about it thanks to a mutual friend.
For South of Normal, Dylan Bruno – the actor from Numbers and Saving Private Ryan, (and
my dear old friend) was gracious enough to write the foreword. Both Dylan and Shock are
super smart guys and most people agree their contributions are the best writing in the books!

19. Post book excerpts.

How will people know what the book is about or if they want to read it unless you show it to
them? Take small sections of the book – and I do mean small, like one paragraph or just a few
lines – and post them via social media with a “read more” button that links to your website,
where they can buy it or get the free download (sales funnel). A drip system of content from
your book will expose them to the humor, tone and subject matter of your writing without being
annoying or “salesy.” You can post bigger excerpts or full chapters via your blog if you’d like.

20. Email marketing.

You’ll want to build up an email list of followers, readers and fans and send them email
marketing messages. However, this is highly debated tool in the world of marketing.

Book marketing gurus like Tim Grahl preach that the most productive tactic to sell books is to
email market. To be clear, the man is VERY good at what he does and has a list of impressive
credentials, but from a user viewpoint, when you hand over your email to him, it’s obvious
you’re in a daily loop of auto-responder emails and sales messages. It’s obviously working for
him and his clients, but figure out if that’s for you.

I caution you to find your own middle ground when it comes to email marketing – to find your
own balance. What would you like to get in your inbox that keeps you feeling good and not
itchy to unsubscribe? Some see email marketing as intrusive, “spammy” and an invasion of
privacy, an expired marketing tool of the 1990s when our online behaviors were much
different, while others preach the effectiveness of email opens, reads and the sales they lead

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to.

I recommend that if you are going to collect email addresses and utilize them to market, please
respect your audience. Don’t send them constant overt sales messages and definitely don’t
pester them too frequently. How often is too often? You’ll have to determine that yourself, (It
will be easy to track the number of people who unsubscribe from your list or complain.) Some
think once a week is okay, some once a month. I see it like this: when I have a blog or email
message I’m really passionate about, that I think will fascinate or inspire them, I send it. I stick
to the cardinal rule of always providing value and they’ll respect you and not automatically
delete your email. Check out Seth Godin’s email marketing campaign for a good example of
providing value and personally connecting with your audience, not just selling.

I recommend setting up your email message like a newsletter. Show an image, a title, and a
couple of leading sentences displayed and then “read more” or “see more,” with a link to the
full article on your blog. That way, they can click over to a more comfortable venue if one of
the articles sparks their interest. Include plenty of photos, invites, special announcements,
giveaways and free samples of the book to reward them.

I use MailChimp, which is free if your list is less than two thousand people, but Constant
Contact and Infusionsoft are other great email marketing sites, too.

21. Call the mayor’s office.

Why not? It’s always great to network with notable people. The mayor’s office will probably
be receptive to booking five minutes for a local author because it makes for a good hometown
story. Make sure to take a photo of you with the mayor while he or she holds up the book. Ask
if they have a list of press contacts you can contact about the meeting, and share the photo and a
brief press release with them. It’s amazing how many reporters will answer your email if you
mention the mayor in the subject line and have a picture with them attached.

Make sure to thank the mayor (and his or her secretary) with an email and a personal note with
the photo attached, and don’t forget to invite them to your local book release party.

Come to think of it, call the governor’s office, too. Why not?

By the way, a shout out to Scott Jackson, the mayor of Hamden, Connecticut, where I was born
and raised. I’ve known Scott since elementary school and was thrilled he took the time to
reconnect with me over my first book. Keep up the great work, Mister Mayor, sir, and invite
me to the White House one day when you’re President.

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22. Get a poster of the book cover made.

Get a full-sized poster of the book cover made. Add a few lines of text or graphics above and
beyond what your book cover has. You have a couple options. You can have this printed and
mounted on hard-back poster board, or you can have it made on flexible material like a vinyl
banner so you can roll it up and bring it with you. Either way, have them add grommets to the
corners so it can be hung anywhere. You can get these made for about $50 at places like
Kinkos so ask them about your best options.

You’ll use this cool poster at every book reading, book release party and speaking
engagement. Buy a portable tripod that you can pop up and hang or place the poster on. Bring a
few small binder clips to keep it straight. I recommend getting it made in a surface or cover
that allows people to sign it with dry erase marker and then wipe clean – a great way to have
guests involved by signing it, themselves. People will love taking pictures in front of the book
cover like it was a Hollywood movie premier.

When the dust settles and you move on to the next book, you can hang it on the wall in your
house or raffle it off to a reader.

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23. Order business cards.

Business cards are crucial when you’re out and about networking and raising awareness for
your book. Since you’re basically selling art and entertainment, I suggest you don’t have cards
that look as if you worked at IBM. Instead, have fun and make them bold, colorful, dynamic
and different – allow them to visually represent the tone and ethos of your brand. Let the colors
and images do the work, keeping the text simple.

This is another good spot to ask yourself: “Do I want to promote only one book, or my long-
term brand as an author?” I made this mistake by printing a ton of cards with the colors, logos
and information for my first book, but they became obsolete once I wrote my second book and
started taking on side writing and blogging projects. So they’re collecting dust in my basement
too.

Now I have cards that have general information about my brand, author email, website (not
book web address) on one side, and then on the other side has an image of my latest book and
the web address where they can check it out. This way, I can use these cards to promote my

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brand but they won’t necessarily become outdated when I move on to another project.

Vista Print will give you two hundred and fifty one-sided, full color cards for free if you don’t
mind their logo on the back. But if you ask me, that looks low-rent. I would pay a little more
and get really cool, colorful cards on heavy stock, maybe with rounded corners or hole in the
middle or something unique that will grab people’s attention. Remember, you’re not selling
insurance but your own brand of art and entertainment, so get creative and make them funky and
fun.

Oh, and make sure to carry them with you at all times – you’ll meet someone who’s interested
in your book when you least expect it.

24. Order mailing labels.

These will come in handy if you are sending out books yourself or mailing invites, thank you
cards or letters. A colorful mailing label with your brand or small book image looks more
professional and cool than a boring hand written return address.

There are tons of printing services online to get these made, or you can go to a local printing
shop or a place like Staples or Office Depot and get help with planning and layout (but you
will pay more). I used VistaPrint for mine and it wasn’t expensive to get a few thousand labels
made. Just take your time with the setup and read all instructions because some of the services
have tricky procedures for uploading artwork.

I recommend you have your logos and book images ready for all of your printing needs at once,
so you use the same service for everything and they’ll have all of your artwork and information
on file.

A quick note: if you’re going to be selling and shipping books yourself but don’t want every
random person to see your home return address, get a P.O. Box at the local post office
dedicated to book mail.

25. Set up a PayPal account.

A PayPal will make it easy for you to sell your books online yourself. Some people just list
their books on Amazon.com and let them do all the work (and make more of the profit). But if
you had a run of books printed when you self-published, you’ll make more money and recoup
your costs faster by selling them yourself as well. By registering with PayPal, people can buy
and pay for your books online with either a PayPal account or any debit or credit card, and the
money will hit your account and then can be routed to your bank account. The PayPal name is
trusted so it gives people assurances when they’re making a purchase online.

When you set up an account and your book with PayPal, you’ll get a link you can place

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anywhere – your email signature, your blog, on your website, social media posts, to show
people where they can buy. They’ll also allow you to gather shipping information, charge the
appropriate sales tax and garner and input any special requests.

The drawback? PayPal takes thirty cents plus 2.9 percent of every transaction to use their
service, paid for by the seller (about seventy-five cents out of a $15 book.) Well worth it, in
my opinion, and I sell books myself through PayPal and have a comprehensive Amazon.com
platform, not one or the other.

26. Use a mobile payment processor like the Square reader.

You’ll want a way to take credit and debit card payments in person, so signup for Square or a
similar mobile payment processor. Most of them plug into your smart phone’s jack, letting you
slide the card and finish the whole transaction via their software app. Book buyers can even
give their signature right on the screen and a receipt will be emailed to them. You can set up
these processors to submit funds directly to your registered bank account or PayPal. How do
they make money? They get a small percentage of each transaction. To first get the Square
reader, it costs $10, but they credit that back to you once you register and use their service.

27. Plan a book release party.

This is the fun part – time to celebrate your book with your family, friends, coworkers and
readers. Contact a local bar or restaurant and ask if it they’d be okay with you bringing in fifty
or one hundred new customers on some night. (They’ll say yes.) Ask for drink specials and
even free appetizers for your party guests. I like to reserve a corner of the bar or restaurant
instead of a separate room because there’s nothing more awkward than having your own space
but not filling it up. Schedule it around happy hour on a Tuesday or Thursday night so you’re
not competing with peak time or busy weekends, though you may want to schedule it for a
Saturday night if that’s when you think more people can come. Set up a Facebook event page
and invite everyone and spread the word. Contact local media to cover it, invite local civic
organizations and the mayor, and post the link to the event all over social media. Enlist a local
bakery to make a cake in the book’s image.

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Have a sign-in book to collect email addresses. Print out color sheets that show the price and
put them in plastic stands so everyone can see. Sell books right on the spot and autograph them
for people. Remember to bring plenty of small bills for change and your Square reader and
smart phone to run credit and debit cards. Grab a friend to help you with selling and
coordinating the traffic. Put up your book poster on an easel and have one person designated to
take photos. Then, make sure to mix and mingle with everyone to spread the love and HAVE
FUN. This is your time to shine.

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The next day, send a heartfelt email to everyone who attended, thanking them and giving them a
link to the photos. I always combine the video footage and photos we shot of the event into a
two to three minute video with a personal thank you and great music mixed in. You can include
a link to that footage in the email and post it on the guest’s Facebook walls, where all of their
friends will see it.

Until you get famous, you’ll probably want to stick with book release parties in your current
hometown and where you grew up. But I’ve heard of people having success with book tours in
other cities as long as they promote it enough.

Check out the videos of my past book release parties:

South of Normal

Pushups in the Prayer Room

28. But don’t call it a book release party.

What? Wasn’t the last section all about how to host a book release party? Yes, but I suggest
you call it a ‘Reader Appreciation Party,” instead. That way the whole focus is on celebrating
and thanking the amazing audience who has supported you. Believe me, they’ll notice the
subtle difference and appreciate it.

29. Use a great email signature.

Build and use an email signature with your headshot photo, an image of your book cover, a
clickable link to your website, contact info, and that media brag book image we talked about.
Make sure it all looks clean and professional and keep the images small.

30. Solicit and collect reader photos.

There’s nothing more fun than seeing a cool photo of a reader holding your book. It’s also a
great marketing tool because you can share it on every social media site and people will
wonder what the buzz is about (and what they’re missing). I started a tradition where I asked
readers to submit wild, creative and fun photos of them holding the book and it’s been a blast.
You can combine them into videos, do a power point presentation, stamp them and share them
on Pinterest, Instagram and other social media sites, and upload them to your Amazon.com
book page.

Run a reader photo contest and have your audience vote on the best one and then give away
prizes (but not copies of your book).

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31. Get a custom email address.

Set up a custom email address as an author or for the book so you won’t have to use a
@hotmail or @yahoo or @gmail address (in my opinion, nothing looks less professional).
When you register your domain and sign up for hosting, GoDaddy and other services usually
offer a few email accounts for free. I have my new email automatically forwarded to a Gmail
account, which allows me to get all my mail in one inbox but also serves as a web-based
backup, too. For instance, I use a hi@NormSchriever.com for professional interaction and
anything to do with my book, which looks professional.

32. Free book giveaways and raffles.

Host free giveaways of your eBook as often as possible. It doesn’t cost you anything and it’s a
great way to spread awareness, garner reviews, encourage social media sharing, and build up
to that critical mass of ten thousand readers talking about your book. If you go through Amazon
(and you probably will) and set the eBook up on their Kindle platform, they offer plenty of
author tools to run giveaways for up to five days every three months. Usually I parcel those out
a day or two at a time and spread the word through Facebook and especially Twitter. But if
you really want to kick start your exposure, there are online services who will register your
free giveaway and promote it to their following. They usually cost around $25 to $40 but you
might get tens of thousands of people downloading the book at once. Based on that activity,
I’ve even seen my book placed on the rotating ad on the front page of Amazon for a short
period. It’s up to you if you want to spend the money, but I’d at least try it once.

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One warning: people who love free stuff and refuse to pay ninety-nine cents for a book are
often curmudgeons by nature, so reviews may be a bit more critical than if you naturally found
interested readers in your target market.

You can also try teaming up with a local coffee shop or business to run a giveaway. Print a
card or coupon that allows customers to login to your website and download a copy of your
book for free, and stack the cards by their front register with a copy of the book on display.

33. Build banner images.

Many social media websites use of horizontal images (like Facebook cover photos) so it’s a
good idea to have an image of the book cover set up as a banner. The individual sites list their
dimensions so you can manipulate to those specifications in your photo program (or just tell
your graphic designer). That horizontal image also comes in hand for website headers and
email signatures because most screens are wider than they are high. Here are the dimensions
for the most common social media banner images:

Facebook cover photo: 851 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall.
Twitter header image: 1252 pixels wide and 656 pixels tall.
Google+ cover photo: 940 pixels wide and 180 pixels tall.

34. Reach out to your schools.

Call or email every school you’ve attended, from pre-K all the way through college. Share
with them that you’ve written a book and offer to send them a quick press release and free
copy. They may write you up in the school newsletter, involve you in alumni events or even
invite you in to speak to the students. I’ve had great results with this and managed to guest blog
for the University of Connecticut and they used my book for their book club.

35. Put together a media kit.

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Make it easy for media to learn about your book with an organized, comprehensive media kit.
You can make it available to them with one click on your website and include images of logos,
bios, awards, a snapshot of reviews, a PDF copy of your book, a summary with excerpts,
photos, interview questions, other articles about your book, and your official press release to
make their life easy.

36. Offer to speak.

A great way to raise awareness about your story and garner contacts is to speak in public. It
allows you to connect with people face to face with warmth and personality, which they’ll
never get from even the best social media marketing. There are several reasons speaking in
public is so effective.

1) No one wants to do it.

Public speaking scares the hell out of people. It’s listed higher than the fear of death in some
polls. The preparation is also a lot of work and you usually start out with a small audience, a
room of ten to twenty-five people, not a crowded amphitheater. The payoff might be humble at
first, too – you’ll sell a few books, but it will probably take longer for the waves to ripple out
and you to see bigger benefits. But starting small is a good thing – it gives you time to get
comfortable, refine your story, speech, talk, and practice.

2) They always need speakers.

Good speakers are always in demand. Almost every conference, workshop, trade meeting and
civic organization hosts speakers on a regular basis. Once you get your first speaking gig and
do a good job, you’ll most certainly be invited back or to speak at other events or chapters.

3) You’ll sell books.

Your goal is to sell books but never get up to the podium and turn your speech into a prolonged
sales pitch, or any sales pitch at all. Talk about the content and topic of your book, not just
your book. But it’s an assumed arrangement you’ll be able to sell books to your audience and
that will happen naturally if you spark their interest and make a connection. Clear it with the
event organizer first, but then mention one time that you have books for sale after the talk. The
most important aspect of public speaking is to tailor your message to your audience. You’ll
want to take your core story and redesign it to really grab the demographic of folks you’re
talking to. The jokes, values, references, sayings and popular culture you talk about all needs
to be accessible to the audience.

Public speaking isn’t for everyone but you need to find out if you’re just scared and nervous
about doing it, or if it’s truly not within your skill set. Some of the best speakers just get so
nervous because they really care, but once they get in front of people and warm up they love
the feeling and do a great job. The key is not to try to be perfect – the audience doesn’t want a
robot that’s perfectly memorized their script but a real human being with passion, energy,

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authenticity and humor. Throwing in a few self-deprecating jokes or a funny observations is a
super way to loosen up the audience and get them feeling good.

Organizations like your local Rotary, Kiwanis Club and Chamber of Commerce are always
looking for speakers. Go online and get a list of chapters and send a nice personal email to
each of them, offering to speak. Even if you sell five or ten books it will be worth an hour of
your time, and you’ll probably get a free lunch out of it. Once you get a few speaking
engagements under your belt and have a clean presentation, you can offer your services to
bigger venues and speaking organizations that will pay you handsomely.

Here are some nuts and bolts to create an effective presentation:

Pass a few copies of your book around as you speak for the audience to
look through, hold and read a line or two.
Raffle something off – a Starbucks gift card, a bottle of wine. Collect
business cards as their entries and have a sign-in sheet. But never raffle
copies of your book. People won’t buy it because they’ll think they might
win a free copy, and it also lowers its perceived value.
Provide a short bio on an index card for the person who’s introducing you.
Setup a great Powerpoint presentation with basic bullet points and lots of
photos. Speeches with visual aids the audience can follow, and interesting
photos, make it far more enjoyable for them.
Energize your audience. They’ll always have about one-tenth of your
passion and energy, so the more fun you have and the higher your level of
passion (without being annoying or inauthentic), the more they’ll feel it.
Be human. Again, don’t worry about being perfect, but be real. Make
mistakes, loosen up, don’t read directly off your cards and make fun of
yourself plenty – they’ll relate and love you for it. Another key to engaging
your audience is asking questions or for a show of hands.
Video record the presentation. EVERY time you speak in public you
should set up a tripod along with a camcorder, digital camera, or iPad to
record it. Afterward, upload it to your computer, integrate the photos and
Powerpoint presentation, and edit it into a great two-minute video to
promote you as a speaker. Also make a full version with your complete
talk. You can use these as marketing tools, hosting them on YouTube, your
website, and share them all over social media. You can also easily email
the link as a reference when offering your services as a speaker or if you
write a press release about the event.
After the event, ask to take a group photo with everyone or at least the big
wigs and organizers if there are too many people. That photo will be
indispensible to share on Facebook and Twitter and another reason to get
back in touch with everyone there. They’ll probably even repost and share

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 it.
Get as many email addresses as possible. That will either happen through
the raffle, signup sheet, or just ask them if there is a master email list so
you can send everyone a nice thank you, along with the link to the video of
the presentation and the group photo. That’s a great way to show your
appreciation, form friendships and stay in touch, and grow your audience.
With your PayPal account and Square reader (or similar payment software
and hardware), you’ll be able to process credit card or debit card orders
to sell books, but also have plenty of small bills on hand to make change.
Double-check to make sure they have a screen, projector and laptop to use
for your presentation and that it will be setup and ready to go. Bring your
presentation on a flash drive, but also email it to the organizer the night
before, just to have a backup.
With the logistics of videoing the presentation, passing out books, signing
up people for the raffle, taking book orders and processing payments, it
helps if you bring along someone to assist you. When I speak in my home
state of Connecticut, I often bring my mom, another shameless way to
market my book because who can say no to her?

37. Grab media logos and put together a “brag book” image.

Every time mention of you or your book appears in a newspaper, magazine, radio show, online
platform, guest blog or speaking engagement, save the image of that organization’s logo. Copy
and paste these logos onto one document with “As seen on” written on top. Save the document
as an image and now you have a snapshot media resume.

Companies spend millions of dollars promoting awareness for their logos, turning them into
well-known symbols that automatically trigger credibility, achievement, and certain values.
You’re going to leverage that by including them in your media “brag book” image. Don’t worry
if you start out with small media that’s not universally recognizable – it will still look cool and
you can edit it as you go, adding the big media logos and taking out obscure ones.

This snapshot resume of logos is fantastic to include in your email signature, website or with
any press releases.

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38. Internet radio shows.

Imagine if there was a way to get on a radio show and talk about yourself for an hour straight,
with no commercials and you could even curse if the host thought it was okay. There is – it’s
called internet radio. Gazillions of internet radio shows are out there always looking for
interesting guests and would love to have you on their show. Okay, so maybe not that many, but
services like BlogTalkRadio and others provide an open forum for minor league media moguls
to have their own shows. Since they have unlimited time and there are no ads to interrupt you,
you can probably chat for twenty minutes or even the whole hour about your book, as opposed
to the two to three minute slot you’ll get on conventional radio (if they let you on at all). The
internet radio show will post a link to your website and book online, too, and you’ll have a
link to the show that you can repost for listeners. Do a little Googling to see what shows are
out there. There are also lists you can buy with internet radio shows categorized by subject
matter and their contact info. Drop them an email and voila.

I’ve had a blast and met some of the coolest people on earth by contacting internet radio
shows, like Jackie, Jerry, and Michael at the Powder Keg of Awesome in Sacramento,
California, media personality Envy Mckee, and DeDe Murcer Moffett from the Snap Out of it!
radio show.

39. Offer bonus material.

Package your excerpts, alternate endings, chapters that didn’t make the cut, short stories,
photos, correspondence as a fan guide or unreleased special content. I don’t recommend trying
to sell this, but give it away as bonus material on your website or for those who email you,
follow or “like” you via social media. It puts otherwise wasted material to good use and is a
great way to expand and prolong the entertainment experience for those fans who are into it.

40. Post testimonials.

Keep a page or section for testimonials on your website. Take the screenshots (images) of all
of your feedback and fun reviews and post them as scrolling photos, a video, or a slideshow

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on your website, perhaps mixing them in with reader photos. You can also post these to
Twitter and create a dedicated Facebook album just for testimonial photos.

41. Take wildly creative photos.

Brainstorm some remarkable photo shoots of you as an author with your book, or the book by
itself staged in crazy settings. Have fun with this and make sure the theme of the image
connects with the tone of the book. Enlist a friend who’s a professional photographer and give

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them shine by stamping the image with their logo and website, too. My good buddy Chris
Foster of Light Thief Photography took some amazingly cool photos of the book when he was
on vacation in Europe.

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42. Photo ops with the book.

Every chance you get, take a photo holding the book in interesting places or with remarkable
people. Keep a copy with you at all times and whip it out whenever the opportunity presents
itself. Got pulled over by the cops for speeding? Ask if they can hold the book while you snap
a photo of them. See someone in a fun costume for Halloween? Have them hold the book. You
meet a Miss Panama contestant at the airport (like the image below) and she’s cool? Snap a
photo with her holding the book. On your next vacation, take a pic of the book in front of

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Time’s Square in New York, the White House, or even in front of the house you grew up in, the
university you attended, or any locations mentioned in the book.

Photo ops with the book are free, humanize your marketing, and great conversation pieces
when you post the photo via social media.

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43. Link it in.

Of all the social media platforms out there, LinkedIn is probably the most underutilized. It
seems like everyone endorses you for things you’ve never done and you only go on there if
you’re looking for a new job, but LinkedIn has some features that can help you as an author. If
you’ve written a nonfiction book with a practical subject matter, it’s a great place to network
with people in the appropriate industry. LinkedIn has paid ads you can use, and also you can
send direct messages with an upgraded account. They have groups and communities you can
form around your book’s theme. Think of LinkedIn like this: everyone is on it but no one really
uses it, leaving a huge opportunity for you to market your book if you dedicate a little time and
energy, and you have far less competition. Social media sharing sites like Hootsuite allow you
to post to LinkedIn almost effortlessly, so go ahead and share all of your content.

44. Sign up for Pinterest.

If you’re looking for a demographic of sixty-eight percent women who are educated and make
good money (twenty-eight percent have a household income of $100,000 or more a year), then
Pinterest is for you. The amazing value of Pinterest isn’t just that a lot of people look at it, but
people stay on it for longer and it drives more purchasing traffic than any other social media
site. Seventy percent of users say they consider buying recommendations from Pinterest.

You’ll need some interesting images or infographics to use, but you have a couple of great
options. Plenty of free software allows you to take your images and stamp them with text or
special effects, and many DIY infographic sites are cheap or free. Or you can do it my way: I
open a Powerpoint presentation, copy and paste an image to the slide, add whatever text and
effects I want, then save it as a .jpeg. From there, I can use it just like any other image.

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Here are some other interesting stats about Pinterest use.

Users are up 2,702.2 percent since May 2011.

About fifty percent are between twenty-five and forty-four years old, an ideal demo to spend
money on books.

Pinterest has more than twice the referral traffic of Instagram, YouTube, Google Plus, and
LinkedIn combined.

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Hopefully I’m just beating a dead horse by mentioning you’re not just going to put up images of
your book, but also the topics your target demographic loves.

45. Sign up for Instagram.

This is a great photo site to spread awareness and create interest for your book. All of those
fun reader photos, photo ops of interesting people holding the book, or custom images you’ve
made can be shared on Instagram. It also allows you to upload and share videos that are fifteen
seconds or less. The demographic is much younger, skewed toward eighteen to twenty-nine
year olds who are checking in from their cell phones (forty-three percent of users), not laptops
or work computers. So if that’s part of your target market, go for it. Instagram is also
remarkably international – an incredible twelve percent of mobile phone users in the world are
reportedly using Instagram.

Instagram may be a little less effective than Pinterest for pushing direct consumer behavior, but
it’s super powerful for creating a buzz and expanding awareness. You can utilize hashtags just
like Twitter to find your specific target market.

46. Answer all comments, correspondence, and reviews.

When someone takes the time to read your book or blog and comment on it, or emails you to
say hello, ALWAYS get back to them. These are the people who are taking the first step to
communicate and ready to build a literary friendship, so reward them with a prompt, personal
reply. Don’t think for a second you’re too big or busy to get back to people. Thank them
genuinely for supporting you and take the time answer all of their questions. Go the extra mile
or do something special for them whenever possible. Schedule one day a week to shoot a
quick fifteen-second or less video hello (so it can go on Instagram), where you’re giving a
shout out to a specific fan.

If someone writes a negative comment or review, just say, “Thank you for you opinion – I
appreciate it. ” Never resort to defending your position or arguing back and forth or trying to
show that you’re right and they’re wrong – it will only reflect poorly on you.

47. Answer reader questions on your blog.

Posting a question from a reader and then answering it is a fantastic format for a blog post.
Titles that are actually questions do well because that’s what people type right into Google or
other search engines, so by matching them word for word, you’ll probably become relevant
quickly. It also rewards readers for getting in touch with you and gives them the warm and
fuzzies that you took the time to directly answer their questions. Another great format is to post
a video of your answer.

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48. Collect and share all feedback.

Every time someone says something positive about your book or you as a writer, save it. I like
to take a screenshot (use F4 on your keyboard) of reviews, emails, Facebook posts to preserve
their comments. Save them all in one folder and you’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll add up
to scores of testimonials that can be reposted (with their permission). You can displayed them
on your website as scrolling images, put them into a cool video slideshow, or write a blog
with your favorites. It’s a fun marketing tool but more than that; whenever you’re discouraged,
you can look back at all of those awesome people who took the time to reach out to you with
their kind words, and instantly feel like a million bucks.

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49. Blog on a bigger platform.

It’s essential to have your own blog and build up your own audience, but one of the quickest
ways to huge exposure (and getting your name high up in the search engines) is to blog for a
well-established magazine, periodical or newspaper that has an online presence. Many of them
offer open blogging platforms once you get their attention and approved. Be prepared – getting
setup with them is the hard part. It may take a lot of persistent emailing of editors but once
you’re in, you’re in for good. Of course they’ll want original content – you can’t take your
existing blogs or writing that’s posted anywhere else and submit to them. They probably won’t

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pay you but they’ll be happy to link to your Twitter account, email and even your website, so it
will help you build a following, gain professional trust and have a well-known media badge to
display.

I started blogging for the Huffington Post online and it’s been a fantastic way to reach an
insanely large audience. I’ve been told again and again that people are impressed with the
Huffington Post name so that gives me instant credibility, opening far more doors.

Of course I blog about Costa Rica and traveling to help connect with my ideal audience, and
the results have been super. If you Google: “Move to Costa Rica,” an article I wrote for the
Huff Post comes up first out of all unpaid results.

50. Blog around important dates.

Keep a calendar of important dates and holidays you can use to promote your book. Did you
write a romance novel? Go crazy around Valentine’s Day. A frightful horror story? Tie it into
Halloween posts. A memoir about your heroic battle with cancer? You better not forget that
World Cancer Day is in February so you can blog and posts crossover content leading up to
and on that day. There are so many holidays, famous birthdays, days of observance, National
days, weeks and months dedicated to causes, it’s ridiculous. Take full advantage of them
because you’ll be able to use those popular hashtags, get more people to read and share your
blogs, and capitalize on a lot of media interest.

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Here’s one site that will help you find them.

51. Guest blog.

So many bloggers would love to have you as a guest blogger on their site. It offers their
readers something different and fresh and, frankly, gives them a break. Don’t be afraid to
contact a few of your favorite bloggers who write about subject matter relating to your book
and offer your services for a post. It will get you tremendous exposure with a new audience
and give you instant credibility because they already trust the host.

Likewise, feel free to have guest bloggers post on your site to offer something new to your
audience and do some great networking.

52. Comment on other blogs and join discussion groups.

Instead of always focusing on bringing your target market to you, go to where they hang out –
blogs, forums, and chat rooms about the topics you share in common. Engage them on “neutral
turf” with a genuine discussion and value, building relationships without overtly selling your
book. This is a long-term marketing proposition but pays off over time once you earn their trust
and make real friendships, turning them into brand ambassadors within your ideal target
market.

53. Produce webinars and podcasts.

To be accurate, webinars and podcasts are two different entities, but I’ll lump them together
here as alternate forms to share your content via the Internet.

Webinars allow you to host live events with multiple people – like a book reading, discussion
group, or workshop. Webinars are real time and include on-screen video and audio, and can
be recorded and reused.

Podcasts are audio forums to share content. Podcasts can be offered in iTunes and other forums
and even sold, though you might want to hold off on charging money until your name is “out
there” a little more. People download podcasts and listen in their car, their MP3 player on the
treadmill, or at their office computer while they’re working away. It’s not live and there’s no
interaction with audience.

54. Contact your public library.

Make a call or drop an email to your local library, offering to submit your book to their
catalog. It won’t help with sales, of course, but can provide a heap of great free publicity in
your hometown. It may take the library a while to respond but it’s worth the wait, possibly

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opening up many more opportunities, as the press and art associations are always looking for
content about accomplished locals. Most libraries will also provide a forum for authors to do
readings and book events for free, and often do a good job of promoting them on your behalf.

55. Interview someone.

Conducting an interview with an interesting, famous, or accomplished person is one of my

favorite marketing tactics to get web traffic and a lot of new followers. Instead of trying to
point the media spotlight at yourself (who no one knows or cares about…yet), you gain
massive credibility by scoring an interview with someone already Google-worthy. The good
news is everyone likes to be interviewed for being good at what they do, and companies and
organizations are always appreciative of outside publicity. For instance, I wrote a series of
articles about working from the beach as an expat or traveler. I did a little online research and
sent an email to Elance.com, the biggest online virtual job board, easily scoring an interview
with their VP (who’s a super cool guy). The article was a smash hit and even now, a year
later, if anyone Googled “Work from the beach,” my name and article comes up number three
without any Search Engine Optimization, no money spent and only one article.

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I still get emails every week of people who’ve read the article and are looking for advice.
People who are researching that topic probably fall within my demographic – travelers,
backpackers, future expats, people who love the beach and ocean, or those who are just
fantasizing about it. Once they see the article they might read another blog I wrote, or see the
book that sparks their interest, or email with more questions.

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As I’m writing this chapter for you, I realize I really should do more of this because it’s been
imminently powerful and efficient as a marketing tool. Who else could I interview? Well if
South of Normal is about living in Costa Rica for a year, I could try to interview their minister
of tourism, or even email a request to chat with their President or someone high up in their
government. Why not? Here is my advice when conducting interviews: PITCH HIGH. You’re
doing them a big favor and journalists have carte blanche worldwide, so a nice professional
interview request won’t be seen as atypical. You probably won’t ever hear no, you just won’t
hear back at all, so schedule to send the email request again the next month or follow up with a
phone call. Be persistent.

If you’ve written a romance novel, how about interviewing a big shot at Match.com or
eHarmony? An outer space thriller? Call a representative from NASA to ask them a few
questions. A book about a murder in a sleepy little village in upstate New York? Try to
interview the police chief there.

When you get a chance to speak with your interviewee, keep it simple and be organized. I
usually write out five questions and send them along ahead of time (they’ll appreciate that so
they can prepare thoughtful answers) and then schedule a call. I ask permission to record the
interview and let them know I’ll email it to them before publishing it. Ask the questions but let
them speak. We authors are ego-driven big mouths, so remember this is their time, not yours,
but by all means ask follow up questions.

When you post the interview be sure to have links to their site. As you tweet a link to the
interview, make sure to include their @CompanyName. Often, big companies or important
people like this have hundreds of thousands of followers, and they’ll gladly retweet the article
for you, increasing your exposure.

Happy hunting and have fun with this. Let me know how it goes.

56. Interview yourself.

That may seem like an oddball and slightly narcissistic marketing activity, but it actually
serves a purpose. Write down ten interview questions as if you were an all-star reporter for
CNN, but make sure they cover the basics. Then, take your time and write a two to four
sentence answer for each. Post it on your blog without designating who asked the questions and
offer them on your media page, or as standard media questions if someone from the press
wants to cover you and your book. Having this Q&A snapshot will help them get started and
until you have frequent interview requests, it will be interesting content for your audience and
help get your name in the search engines.

57. Voting and polls.

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As I’m wrapping up a book and shifting my focus to fun things like cover images, font types
and the like, I love to get my friends and audience involved by asking their opinions. It’s a
spectacular way to spark interest in your project and give folks a personal stake in the project.
I’ll line up five potential cover images side by side, post on social media, and ask them to vote
for their favorite. People seem to appreciate the interactive process and several told me it’s
interesting for them to see the book design process in action.

Likewise, post a lot of polling questions and ask your audience to vote on things, like the best
reader photos, or to finish a sentence. It can be anything, even humorous or silly questions or
topics that have little to do with your book, but your audience will really appreciate being
asked their opinion.

58. Create an online group or community.

What better way to attract and interact with like-minded people than starting a community,
forum, or group online? Yahoo groups, LinkedIn groups, and many other platforms offer a great
way to build your audience around shared interests or topics. As the founder of the group,
everyone on there will know you and you’ll have unlimited access to curate information and
post questions. Just remember to respect your members by offering real value, not a thinly
veiled sales pitch for your own book. Cultivating a good group takes time, but it’s a great way
to expand your brand ambassadors.

59. Connect with a charity.

If the story in your book centers on a medical issue or social cause, reach out for the charity or
organization that serves that population. Offer their staff copies of the book to read and ask if
you can submit a guest blog for them, write a blurb in their newsletter, offer a special discount
to their members and audience, or do any other cross promoting. My good buddy, Bryan
Donahue, wrote an inspiring story about his battle with a rare liver disease, On Borrowed
Time. He reached out to the American Liver Foundation and they were thrilled to get involved
and get his book in the hands of people who were going through similar challenges.

60. Review and promote other books in your genre.

I’m serious about this – give shine to your competition. Write up a blog with the top ten books
in your genre and put yourself last or as the host. Why? People who are interested in your book
are interested in that genre or the topics in your book. For instance, South of Normal talks
about Costa Rica, moving abroad and surf culture. Folks who are passionate or interested in
those themes are likely to buy more than one book in their lifetime. By reviewing other popular
books in that genre, I help raise awareness and love for all of us (a rising tide lifts all boats).
Publishing is like no other industry (except maybe music) in that each intellectual property
(book) is unique, so your only real competition is yourself.

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61. Donate free copies of your book to waiting rooms.

Hair salons, dentist’s offices, car mechanics and just about every other business has a waiting
room filled with magazines, so why not offer to donate a copy of your book for their patrons
who are waiting there? It’s a great way to get exposure with a steady stream of folks, yet none
of them will be there long enough to read the whole thing, so some will end up buying it.
Autograph the book and leave some business cards with the receptionist in case anyone
inquires. It’s a thrill to come back and see the book you left well thumbed through and the staff
report that people laughed out loud in an otherwise somber waiting area.

62. Donate books to charities.

Fundraisers and philanthropic events are always looking for prizes for their silent auctions so
donate a few books. Pay attention when people post announcements about upcoming charity
functions and contact them to offer signed copies of your book. Your generous offer may even
earn you an invite to a great function where you’ll meet really cool people or even an offer to
speak, but this one isn’t about you – it’s just good karma and giving back is the right thing to
do.

63. Host a reading.

Reading a book is one thing, but hearing the author read it out loud is a totally different
experience. Contact a local indie bookstore, coffee shop, bar, library or community center
about hosting a book reading and have them help you publicize it. Additionally, consider
adapting the story from your book into a one-man play or spoken word performance that lasts
thirty minutes or so.

64. Record an audio version of the book.

You want to create as many alternative formats as possible for people to be exposed to and
enjoy your stories, so definitely record some audio. If you have a big budget you can hire a
sound studio to make a full audio book and publish and sell that. However, if you have a
humble budget just get an audio recording and editing program on your laptop, plug in a good
external microphone, and sit down in a quiet room to record a chapter every day. This sounds
easy but it’s actually one of the most difficult and time consuming tasks you’ll undertake. A
chapter may turn out to be too much in one sitting so just dedicate yourself to a certain page
count or section or time per day. Save or convert the clips to MP3s and you can share them on
audio hosting websites or offer them right on your website to give away. People will love
hearing the story in your own voice and you’ll attract a lot of non-readers.

It also doesn’t need to be a formal reading of the book. You can record you telling the story in
an informal way, like you were telling it to a friend in a bar in a couple minutes.

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65. Offer your book to indie and local bookstores.

I know you want your book to be on full display in front of Barnes and Noble, but until that
happens it would be great if your little local book shop carried your work. Approach them and
offer it to be sold on consignment (so they have no monetary risk) but be prepared to make
your case – they have a limited amount of shelf space and indie book stores are struggling to
make money more than anyone. They’ll want evidence that you’re a good bet to sell a lot of
copies and bring people into their store. The fact that you’re a local author, have upcoming
events, a big email list or Twitter following, and recent media mentions will all help convince
them to stock your book.

66. Make a map of your readers.

Marketing should be about the readers and their experience with the book as much as possible,
so another way to integrate them into your publicity is to crate a map of where they live.
Download a map online (with permission) and put a red pin in every place a reader lives. This
doesn’t have to be an international map – you can just start with the United States or even your
home state. I copied and pasted this map image into Powerpoint and inserted these pins as
symbols, though there are probably more sophisticated ways to do this. A few sites offer map
pinning based on your travels. Add your website and book title to the bottom and you’re in
business, and keep updating and thanking your readers, near and far, for participating.

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67. Pretend you are a reporter or gossip columnist.

A lot of the information in this book is plug and play if you’ve written a nonfiction book
because it’s all about producing content around the same topics. However, ideas to market
fiction are a little harder to corral. Some of them, like period pieces or genres like fantasy or
sci-fi are still easy to market because of the specificity of their nature, but what about if you
wrote a plain, old story about plain, old people? How do you produce content then?

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This was the challenge posed to me a few months ago when an editor reached out to me for
advice how to market her published author’s book, a murder mystery that took place in a small
town in upstate New York in the present day.

I suggested the author write a regular article or gossip column as if they were a real reporter
living in that same town. Treat the characters in the book, and the world they live in, so real
that people question if yours is really a fictional book, after all. Talk about them as if they’re
real celebrities and you’re a sleazy a tabloid journalist or paparazzi who are trying to get the
scoop. Set it up like a society page in a local newspaper in their hometown.

Think about the juicy possibilities: gossip, wedding announcements, police and crime reports,
newspaper exposes on the characters, interviews with staff, stolen diaries, transcripts of phone
calls, emails intercepted, secrets betrayed, coverage of high society events and happenings,
candid photos and plenty of accusations, irresponsible gossip and scandal. Before you know it,
people will be tuning in just to keep up with the soap opera. You could even get feedback from
readers as though it’s a regular tabloid and they’re writing letters to the editor or post
comments.

I’ve never seen a fiction writer do that and, of course, characters (and the conflicts in their
lives) drive any good story. This would also create so many new plotlines and material that
you’d lead right into a second book.

68. Enter writing competitions.

Submit your book to as many writing competitions as you can find. If you come in last, no one
will care or even know. But if you happen to win, place or show, it will be a badge of honor
you can display prominently on all of your marketing. They also have just as many
competitions for short stories, poems and other formats.

69. Get your book translated and go international.

There’s a whole world out there (yeah, no kidding?) so consider getting your book translated
into another language and selling it abroad. There are plenty of book agents, services and
informative sites to guide you through the process of getting international publishing rites and
distribution. Amazon and iTunes (iBooks) especially have a large international presence in
different language markets, so if your book has a foreign theme or setting, or you just want to
experiment with going big, get it translated.

Now the hard part – where to get it translated? I don’t recommend approaching your friend
who speaks another language with the task – it will never get done nor done right. Look into
professional translations services, though they can get bring a huge price tag. How about hiring
a college student, or even offering the translation as a one-semester internship? Or
international job boards like Elance are a good way to find willing candidates.

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70. Create a #hashtag for your book.

Hashtags are Twitter’s way (and now used by Instagram, Facebook and soon, everyone else)
of categorizing and connecting people with information. When you put a hashtag in front of a
word it becomes instantly searchable by anyone who is looking for that same topic. Anyone
can hashtag any word or phrase, so sometimes they get creative and hilarious. Consider
registering a hashtag for your book title. That way it belongs to you forever and as you place it
within conversations about your book or book topic, it will officially lead back to your name
and the book. For instance, I registered #SouthOfNormal.

This is how you register hashtags simply and for free.

71. Tie your book in to trending topics.

Write blogs, articles and social media posts that tie in to current popular interests and trends
for increased traffic to your site. Get creative with this – regularly scan what’s trending and
integrate big stories into your marketing efforts.

For instance, one of my books somehow got listed on Amazon under the genre “Love, Dating,
Romance, and Relationship Advice.” That’s hilarious because if anything, it reveals exactly
what NOT to do if you want to be successful with the opposite sex. But anyway, being listed in
that genre opens the door for me to write about a host of trending topics about sex and dating
that I can tie in to the listing on Amazon.

Or if big news comes out of Costa Rica, I’m all over using it to bring eyeballs to my blog and
posts.

There are plenty of websites that show you what hashtags and topics are trending and popular
at the moment. I suggest starting with Twitter’s own, What’s Trending site.

72. Teach a class.

It may seem like a reach, but there are plenty of opportunities to teach what you know. You
wrote a book, right? That makes you an authority in some sort of subject matter, even if it’s
about writing your first book. Contact adult education centers, learning annex classrooms and
the like and be prepared to submit a detailed bio, resume, lesson outline if they’re interested.
You’ll make some great contacts, practice your public speaking and become even more
marketable as an authority in your field.

73. Register your book with Scribd.com.

As you accomplish the fundamental marketing tasks and start freeing yourself up to try new

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things, go ahead and register your book with Scribd.com, a monthly subscription based service
where eighty million readers in more than one hundred countries will have access to your
book, sort of like a Netflix for words. It doesn’t cost anything for you to register your book
with them.

74. Get on Tumblr.

We have plenty of social media platforms to use already, but Tumblr.com is different. It blends
the best of a blogging platform (it recently usurped Wordpress.com as the most popular blog
with more than twenty million users) and offers other features. It’s easy to use to share any
form of content – audio, video and especially photos, and there’s no word limit. You can also
follow and connect with others who share your interests, forming communities. Consider using
Tumblr to market your book along side your other social media platforms.

75. Sign up for Google Plus.

Google + (pronounced ‘Google Plus’) is the social media sharing platform of the world’s
biggest search engine. Many people forget to share their content via Google+ but in fact it’s the
second largest social media sharing site with five hundred and forty million users, behind only
Facebook. It’s a great way to further spread the content you produce and you can build
communities, or circles, and network with people. Set up your account with author information
and links to your site, YouTube channel, Twitter accountand make sure to integrate Google+
into Hootsuite or whichever social media scheduler you’re using.

76. Infographics.

If an image is worth a thousand words, then an infographic is worth ten images. Creating your
own image that also conveys statistics, information or tells a story is a great way to attract
viewers to your blogs or social media posts. Don’t believe me? Ever notice how many “likes”
a silly picture of a cat gets on Facebook?

There are several sites where you can build your own infographics either for free or at a low
cost. Of course they won’t be about your book but cover the topics or subject matter in your
book. For instance, I could make an infographic about the top ten expatriate destinations to
help promote my travel memoirs. Make sure they have your website and appropriate
information listed on them so you’ll get credit when they’re shared.

77. Generate a QR Code.

QR codes are like digital fingerprints. They were first used by the auto industry in Japan but
now are finding mainstream commercial appeal. They look like little black and white maze-
like images and can be scanned with any smart phone’s QR scanner or reading application.
Doing so will instantly give the viewer a bevy of information about your product (your book)

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or direct them to your website, Amazon listing, PayPal link, whatever. There are plenty of free
sites that will build a QR code for you that you can put on posters, flyers, business cards,
embed into your email, social media, and just about any place else. What a cool concept – and
high tech way for you to market your book and reach a sophisticated audience.

78. Get a Wikipedia page.

One of the coolest moments in your online marketing journey is when you first get your own
Wikipedia page. Wikipedia is the web’s preeminent research library tool, with entries and
articles on just about every notable person, place, event and everything else you can imagine.
Once you’ve been “wiki’d” the search engines will love you and you’re automatically
considered an internet authority.

But it’s trickier than you think to get there. It’s strictly prohibited to form your own Wikipedia
page and entries are carefully scrutinized for authenticity, accuracy and suitable credible
references. Don’t be discouraged – becoming “WikiWorthy” is a process and there are ways
to get started and build up to your own Wiki mention. There are two options – forming an
article for you as an author or for your book. They’ll want to see you’ve achieved some
mainstream recognition before you can get approved for a personal page, so you might start out
with mentions of your book as references for other Wiki articles about the topics or genre,
additions to other articles, or as a draft article on your own Wiki user page.

No one said it would be easy to get listed on Wikipedia but that’s a good thing because it’s not
flooded with pretenders and self-promoters. To read more and start putting your efforts in the
right direction, check out Wiki’s own article on the process.

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79. Register a definition with the urban dictionary.

Do you have a unique and snappy word or phrase in your book that you think belongs in
popular culture and might catch on? Submit it to UrbanDictionary.com. It might not sell books
tomorrow, but it sure is fun to have your own contribution to our lexicon, and it will tie back to
your book. I just submitted the phrase “south of normal,’ and they accepted and posted it within
a day. It’s super easy to submit here.

80. Add your book to Google Books and others.

Google has it’s own book content library, Google Books. Readers can search through millions
of titles, preview text and buy or borrow, a great way to engage a larger audience and get your
content in the worlds biggest search engine. There are plenty of other sites that range from
user-based content and news to digital content categorization to free e-content, like
Reddit.com, Mashable.com or ProjectGutenberg.com, so check them out and submit.

81. Bundle your books.

Amazon, Ebay, and other book sales sites allow you to package several products and list them

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as a separate entity for sale. This is most common when authors bundle their eBook and print
book for sale at a discounted price, or multiple books if they’d written several. But you can
also add any special reports, bonus material, audio books and more. It creates another listing
of your content and is a great way to expand your visibility and sales platform.

Here’s a guide how to set it up.

82. Enroll sales affiliates.

Your fans, friends, and readers can sell your books off of their websites or blogs and earn a
commission. Both Amazon.com and Smashword.com (a big eBook distribution site) offer
affiliate programs that allow others to add links to your books and sell them for you.

Here is information on Amazon’s affiliate program.

83. Consider using Facebook and Google ads.

Facebook offers ads to promote your book in several forms: pay-per-click campaigns to
promote a single post or increase “likes”. Look into what Facebook ads have to offer and make
sure you set your daily budget and designate your target market. The effectiveness of such ads
is reportedly declining as Facebook has probably reached its apex, but as long as you know the
results are there for what you pay, it’s worth trying out. Here’s a link to Facebook ads.

Definitely consider signing up for Google AdWords or similar marketing tools by Google
which allow you to raise visibility, get clicks and raise your web traffic, as well. Here’s a link
to information on Google AdWords.

84. Design T-shirts and other merchandise.

Will this sell books? Probably not, but it will help grow awareness and build a fun, exciting
brand. A lot more people wear cool T-shirts than they do read books. Just make sure they’re
not “salesy” with too much text or advertising – no phone numbers but maybe just a “.com.” On
top of awesome Ts you can make bookmarks, mouse pads, golf balls, wine glasses and just
about anything else a logo can fit on.

85. Make a bet.

Energize your audience by making a bet with them that you’ll do something crazy, publically
embarrassing, that conquers your greatest fear, or is just plain cool – IF you hit a certain goal.
The goal should be a positive one (obviously) like a hundred 5-star reviews or a thousand
Facebook Likes or a hundred retweets. Once you lose (and you hope you lose) you’ll document
paying the bet via video and have a blast sharing it with your peeps.

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86. Make goofy videos for fans.

Speaking of fans and videos, do something very thoughtful and personal for them via video. So
you have a fan that’s in the hospital, or has a birthday, or just got a new job? Turn on the video
camera and have a ball cheering them up, wishing them happy birthday, and send it to them.
They’ll think it’s the coolest thing ever because no author ever took the time for one reader like
that.

87. Use signs in your photos for social media.

These days, an interesting hybrid of images and text takes the form of someone holding up a
sign in a photo. You can write anything you’d like on it. “Thank you,” “My readers are the best
in the world.” Or use them as storyboards when you make those goofy videos for fans. If you
want a great resource for getting whiteboard marketing videos made with animation, text, and
doodles, click here.

88. Celebrate your bad reviews.

I’m not kidding. Everyone talks about and posts their good reviews, so it all just becomes
meaningless self-promotion. But how many authors are self-deprecating and honest enough to
share the negative ones? You’ll catch people’s attention, get a good laugh, and they’ll
appreciate you for being authentic and humble.

89. SEO and keywords.

Make sure your website and blog are filled with the right keywords and tags to maximize
search engine optimization. Of course you don’t want to start throwing in words just to have
them for SEO, but don’t miss out on the obvious keywords that relate to your main topics.

90. Sign up for Google Authorship.

When it comes to content and search engines, the big G is running the show, and a little known
fact is Google may not even be giving you credit for the blog posts and content your write. To
change that, signup for a Google Authorship account, which is like an official register so
they’ll know the best places to look for your words – and make sure to give you credit. Here’s
a tutorial to set it up.

91. Set up an online book tour.

So you don’t have the budget or time (or fans) to book flights and go on a nationwide tour for
the release of your book? Easy fix – just conduct an online book tour with webcasts, radio
interviews, guest blogs, discounts, live tweets in one city per week.

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92. Let other sites promote your book.

There are plenty of online resources to give your self-published eBook some free publicity
online. MediaBistro has a great list.

93. Release a new addition.

Every time you release a new or updated version of the book, celebrate it with big
announcements, free giveaways, discounted pricing and a blitz of promotion. This works well
when you add more content, photos and a user’s guide, for example. I recommend releasing an
anniversary addition or in honor of a certain date or holiday that’s relevant to the book.

94. Put your contact info at the end of the book.

Have you ever read a good book and felt a little sad once you finished, wishing you could call
up the and hang out a little more? Well now you can encourage your readers to stay in touch by
putting your email address, Twitter handle and website or blog right on the last page of the
book. It’s a great place to ask them to leave a review and have a direct link to the Amazon.com
listing, too.

95. Create urgency with limited time pricing.

Offer discounted pricing but to create urgency, just say “for a limited time.” Don’t leave the
window for discounts open too long because you want to motivate people to act (buy)
immediately.

96. Donate a percentage of your books sales.

Do you have a great charity or cause that you really believe in? Write in the book, “A portion
of the proceeds will be donated to XYZ.” I wouldn’t disclose a specific percentage because it
sometimes offers the perception that the book is overpriced by that much. You can determine
how much is appropriate to give, but your readers will still appreciate that you care.

97. Find new homes for your videos.

We covered videos being hosted on YouTube and short ones (fifteen seconds or less) posted
on Instagram. But there are plenty of other popular sites to upload and share your videos, like
Vimeo and Vine, that will get you exposure and new followers.

98. Group pricing incentives.

We talked about making bets with your audience if they hit certain landmarks, but you can do
the same thing with incentive-based group pricing. As an example, if one hundred people share

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a post, the eBook will be discounted fifty percent to $2.99. It will be 99 cents if two hundred
people share it, and completely free if five hundred people share your post via social media.
Of course, you need to specify timelines on this.

99. Price pulsing.

If Amazon and Kindle see a book moving well, they’ll start promoting and featuring it
themselves. Their algorithms are complex and held a secret, but we do know they look at
monthly activity and total units sold, not total money generated. Therefore, it’s a good idea to
drop your price to 99 cents every once and a while, allowing you to boost your sales and kick
start their internal promotion mechanisms. Keep the book at the lower price for about seven
days before you switch it back to the original price, still enjoying the marketing momentum.

100. Say thank you with discounts and coupons.

When you’re conducting all of these fun contests, giveaways and raffles, never give away your
book as the prize. People will hold off on buying it to see if they win, and if they don’t, they
probably won’t dip into their pockets to buy it at all. Instead, offer prizes likes discounts or
coupons from local business, services and products. That way you can help promote your
friends and business partners, and they might even offer the coupons of gift certificates to you
for free.

If in doubt, thank someone, no matter what kind of marketing you’re doing.

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 Epilogue
Although we’ve come to the end of this book, by no means is this an end to this conversation.
The marketing we’ve covered is a great start, but we should keep updating and expanding the
vocation of book marketing as we go. I’ll do my best to keep you updated and likewise, there’s
a lot I can learn from you, so please let me know what works for you, what doesn’t, and what I
missed. Together, we can empower more people to share their stories with the world, giving a
voice to self-published and new authors who otherwise wouldn’t be heard and promoting the
sublime art of literature.

To conclude, I want you to know I’m wishing you massive success. I want you to blow the
doors off any humble achievements I’ve had as a writer. I want you to get famous and sell a
million books and not have the time to take calls from the little people like me. So please let
me know if there’s anything I can do to help or anything else you need.

I’d love to hear from you – to read your blogs and see your fun book marketing images and
watch your video trailers, so feel free to stay in touch:

hi@NormSchriever.com
Twitter @NormSchriever
Website www.NormWrites.com

Your friend and biggest fan,

Norm Schriever ☺

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P.S. Okay, here it comes… Wait for it… Would you be so kind and write a nice review for
this book on Amazon.com? I truly appreciate it, and will be happy to do the same for you when

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you write your next book.

***
A special thanks to the folks who helped with this project:

Srinivas Rao,
Author, The Small Army Strategy.
Twitter @Skooloflife

Layout and cover design by the great people at JETLAUNCH

Rebecca T. Dickinson for her edits and advice.

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