Dan Poynter is the guru of self-publishing; we all know that, but what you might not know is that Dan is a pilot, skydiver, Master Parachute Rigger, and an aviation historian. He is a world traveler—53 countries and the North Pole.

The reason we need to know this is that Dan emphasizes how passion for a specific topic makes it  easier to build your brand, and market and sell your books. Dan stated his passion is skydiving and aviation, and  he is the author of 132 books, many of them on aviation. He likes to entertain his audience and tell jokes, and claims that at age 76, he’s had many years to write over 130 books.

At the PWSD (Publishers and Writers of San Deigo) meeting on October 25th, 2014, Dan Poynter starts with a quote by John Rakestraw, Book Designer:

“Marketing is hard.

Selling is scary.

But ….talking to people about what we love to do, is something we do every chance we get.”

I enjoy Dan’s honest and straightforward approach to giving indie authors advice on how to find their customers and sell books.

According to Dan here are his 3 dont’s:

• Don’t “Spray and Pray.” This is when you promote to everyone and hope for some sales.
• Don’t “Batch and Blast.” This is when you send the same message to everyone.
• Don’t Hunt with a Shotgun as Opposed to a Rifle.” This applies to those who send their book announcement to more than their target audience.

Dan believes that the Internet, is the modern “campfire,”  and as authors know:

• Book promotion is up to us, whether we are traditionally or indie published. 

Dan candidly explains that the BIG 5 traditional publishers treat books like products and they don’t care about your topic- like skydiving and where you could promote it. All they care about is the paycheck they are receiving from bookstores, and,

• Bookstores are a lousy place to sell your books.
• Only send information out to those who are interested in your book.

That’s when Dan reminds us that the “Spray and Pray” system where we send our book out to everyone with the hope that someone will buy it doesn’t work.

Dan says we need to:

• Fish where the fish are. (Most of the time that’s not in the bookstores.
• Get the word out to only those who care since this costs less and you only want to find those readers who are interested in your books subject.

How do you find readers who are interested in your book topic?

That’s easy when you have a specific topic like Persian cats, parachuting, mountain biking. You only look for those who are fascinated by those specific topics. For example with cats, only search for those interested in Persian cats, not all cat lovers.

Here are some tips from Dan Poynter that I found very helpful:

• Promote with (other people’s blogs) “Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.” –Will Rogers
• Google Alerts (Sign up for alerts on your own favorite topics to get information on your book right away.)
• Join Groups/Forums and get known. LinkedIn, Yahoo Groups, Facebook, Twitter. (Use 5 different photos of yourself and in 24 hours, all those photos will pop up on Google Images.) I found this very interesting and shall test this out. Let me know if you try it as well.
• Leave Reviews, and always add your name, your book and your URL at the end of the review. Dan mentioned leaving your URL on Amazon reviews, however, I do not believe this is allowed on Amazon.
• Spend your time online (in your field,)
• Locate reporters who write about your subject. HARO (Help a reporter out) is one way. www.helpareporter.com
• Book Covers Dan suggested having your name on the top of the book cover, like  they do for famous authors, such as Dan Brown. “That way you will appear to be more important in the in the industry. People will ask, “Did we miss this person?” I loved this idea.
• Each book should have it’s own URL, and dedicated website. for me that would be: http://MyGutsyStoryAnthology, or http://FreewaystoFlipFlops.com

Bottom line is we all want to be “DISCOVERABLE.” 

Another tip, which I have also said in my previous blog posts, is

• “Do what you’re good at, and hire out the rest.” 

Dan Poynter also said,

• “Do not start a blog” if you haven’t got one. Instead, “Contribute to other people’s blogs on your subject.”

You can find Dan Poynter’s books and articles on his website. 

 We Need More Submissions For Our 2015 Anthology ASAP

NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

Get Published in our 3rd

“My Gutsy Story®”Anthology in 2015

 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES HERE

 

 2013 Benjamin Franklin Honoree Winner

2014 International Book Awards FINALIST

2014 WINNER of the PARIS BOOK FESTIVAL

 We just won our 4th Award for the Anthology. 

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT OUR AWARDS.

 

Some of you know that I take great pride in my book covers, and don’t like to skimp on quality.

My Gutsy Story® Anthology # 2: Inspirational Short Stories About Taking Chances and Changing Your Life

I love the professional work done by Michele DeFilippo and Ronda Rawlins at 1106 Design. This year, I almost decided to SAVE MONEY and go with a cheaper design for our 2nd  Anthology in the series, but I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to skimp on quality.

Why?

Because I believe book design experts know more about book covers,and what sells a book than I do. Here’s a post I wrote on how to choose a book cover that sells based on  the first Anthology in the series:

My Gutsy Story® Anthology: True Stories of Love, Courage and Adventure From Around the World

has won 4 Awards, including the prestigious:

My Gutsy Story® Anthology: True Stories of Love, Courage and Adventure From Around the World, has been named a 2013 Benjamin Franklin Award Silver Honoree Winner.

Is the cover important?

I just found a blog post on this topic by Cathi Stevenson on “What Sells a Book.”

She mentions an interesting case of where a book cover was redesigned, and it actually became a big hit after that. (see the quote from her post below.)

“In the March 2006 meeting of the Association of American Publishers, Marcella Smith, director of small press relations for Barnes and Noble, discussed the remake of the cover for The Little Book That Beats the Market (Wiley, 2005).

In the March 24, issue of Publisher’s Weekly Daily, Smith is quoted as saying the original book jacket was pale blue and featured a dollar sign. After discussing the cover with buyers, the publisher decided to change the book jacket to a more classic dark blue with white lettering, which they felt better suited a traditional business audience. It became a hit and the jacket was credited with the book’s increased popularity.”

 

Stevenson explains that most indie authors aren’t in brick and mortar bookstores, but sell online. So she then goes on to ask the question:

 

“So, do online covers matter? I’d have to say yes. First of all, it’s quite easy to weed out books that are self-published when the cover is obviously amateurish. One can only assume if there was no effort put into professional design, then there probably wasn’t much effort invested in editing, or layout or even research and story development. The cover is a necessary bit of polish, like a well-pressed suit.

Since covers are often only displayed at one or two inches online, a book cover is pretty much at the mercy of good advertising techniques to get the click-through on a page filled with similar books. An easily-read title and strong use of color are going to play a role.”–Cathi Stevenson

Stevenson stresses how a good blog and a professional product is going to help the indie author sell his 2nd book.

Look at our 1st Anthology cover (top cover) and decide which of the 2nd covers (below the butterfly cover) we should go with for our 2nd Anthology to be published this Fall.

PLEASE  HELP ME  BY VOTING FOR THE COVER THAT WOULD MAKE YOU BUY THE BOOK.

(PLEASE WRITE YOUR ANSWER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW AND SHARE WITH FRIENDS)

ANSWER # 1 RED COVER

ANSWER # 2 PALM TREE COVER

VOTE for your favorite JULY 2014 “My Gutsy Story®” ON THE RIGHT SIDEBAR.

You have from now until  August 13th to vote on the sidebar, (only one vote per person) and the winner will be announced on August 14th, and will select a prize from our generous sponsors. 

READ ALL STORIES HERE

“Start planning your book’s destiny-NOW”

This is a phrase I got from Susan McBeth, founder of “Adventures by the Book.”

Susan creates events for authors, and says she has a “connector personality.”

Like Susan, I also like to connect people and one of the first questions Susan brought up during her presentation at Publishers and Writers of San Diego (PWSD), is to ask yourself:

“What am I good at?”

There is no one-size fits all, as far as book events, and Susan believes that we need to take our time and do it right.

Not everyone likes, or wants to speak in front of large crowds, so why not organize a smaller event where you have a glass of wine and chat one-on-one with each person.

I know how terrifying it can be to stand in front of even 100 people and speak, and since I was made fun of as a teenager, when I made a speech in front of my peers, I’ve decided to get over it, and prove that I’m no longer going to let that bother me.

“What do you consider a successful event?”

Everyone is different, and as Susan states, there are many ways to measure a successful event. Here are some of the ways:

• Book sales
• Attendance
• Exposure (get your message out)
• Engagement (one-on-one)
• Personal Satisfaction
• Other

From my own experience, I have different objectives for my book events, and book sales is never the main reason. I believe if you focus on sales, you may be disappointed, and you won’t focus on your audience and creating relationships with them.

“Word-of-mouth” is still the best way to sell books, and to ask for Amazon reviews–Sonia Marsh

Most indie authors hope to sell hundreds of books, and the most I ever sold was 37 books at my book launch. I remember saying that I should bring 100 books to Laguna Beach Bookstore when I did my first launch, and someone told me that even Bestsellers don’t sell 100. That was a wake-up call for me.

I launched my memoir: Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of gutsy Living on a Tropical Island, at Laguna Beach Books, and offered a themed party, rather than a traditional book launch. Since my memoir takes place in Belize, I organized a Caribbean party and had sponsors. We offered a traditional rum punch, and food.

Themed events offer a myriad of possibilities and increase press opportunities–Susan McBeth

There are many ways you can have a non-traditional book event. Susan McBeth listed the following, which she organizers for both traditionally published authors and self-published authors.

• Book Clubs
• Fundraisers
• Panels
• Themed Events
• Cultural Events

When I created the launch for the 1st: My Gutsy Story® Anthology: True Stories of Love, Courage and Adventure From Around the World, I decided to make it like an Academy Awards event and held it in a movie theater in Southern California.

I did everything right, except I should have charged an entrance fee and offered a copy of the Anthology, free wine and food

Thanks to my connections, asking my author friends to participate in a panel, and inviting Marybeth Bond, (the Gutsy Traveler) to be my keynote speaker, and giving back to a non-profit, Womansage, I know that you can also create a unique book event based on a theme.

I would like to share some articles I’ve written on various book events I’ve done, and hope that you’ll get some ideas for your own events.

• Costco is definitely for exposure, not to make money.
• How do I sell my book?
• A Different Way to Market Your Book
• Why book promotion is like being a Viagra salesman
• Book Promotion is like Breathing; You can never take a rest from it or you might die.

Susan McBeth is offering a workshop on August, 9th, 2014  from 12-4 pm., on Video Presentations for Authors. For more information, visit: www.adventuresbythebook.com.

If  you need help with blogging, building your platform, publishing, marketing or planning a book launch, please visit my “GUTSY BOOK COACHING” page.

Next Webinar with expert Jason Matthews on July 11th at 9 a.m., PST. “Metadata Made Easy: Find the Best Keywords for Books, Blog Posts and Social Media.”

Send your questions to me at :Sonia@SoniaMarsh.com.

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If you need help with blogging, book marketing and promotion, please contact me and visit my

CLICK HERE for Gutsy Book Coaching.

Accepting story submissions now for our Award-winning “My Gutsy Story®” Anthology

READ MORE HERE