C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

12/19/2011 • 2:15 AM 2

How to sell cross-genre books in The Land of The Easy No

Picture this:

You walk into a store and can’t find what you’re looking for. You ask the clerk behind the counter, “Have you got moldy bat wing party favors hiding somewhere in the back of the loading dock?”

Far too quickly, without looking up from his coffee, he says, “Nope! We’re out of the entire line of moldy bat wing party favors.”

You walk out empty-handed, but you’re thinking, “I bet there might be some left in the back if the clerk had just bothered to take the time to check.”

You’ve still got your moldy bat wing party favor deficit, but as soon as the clerk said no, their problem was over.

It’s easier to say no than to say yes. “Yes” means more work.

This is the downfall of living in The Land of The Easy No.

Which brings us to the business of selling books… As a sales rep for numerous publishers, I had a lot of catalogues to get through. Appointments could take two or even three hours, depending on how much hemming and hawing the bookseller went through to complete an order. I had to power through those catalogues, talking fast, to fit three appointments into a day. Traveling between bookstores took time away from selling, so efficiency was not a trivial issue.

Each book received a few seconds of attention and — surprise!— not all books get equal attention. A “credibility book” is a book from the backlist that a sales rep steers a bookseller away from. “You don’t have to worry about that one,” is code for, “If you buy that book you’ll be returning it as quick as you can and you won’t believe a word I say when I tell you to go heavy with your order on another title.” When you have seconds to sell a title, you go with the high points. Selling an author who has sold well before is the easiest thing to do. When I sat down with booksellers, there was a shorthand with popular authors. Other pitches focused on publisher support or celebrity. Getting them excited over a story was usually (but not always) the last choice in the hierarchy of what made a sale quick and easy.

Easy sell: “How about you double the order on that romance author you’ve already sold a ton of? It’s the same unchallenging book her fans want over and over, and sure, the quality has slipped, but it’s about branding and a following.”

Fast and easy sell: “How many of the new Stephen King do you want?” (Note the “how many?” not whether and if.) Whenever you can talk about big name authors instead of covers, content or media coverage, the easier the sale.

Difficult sell: “Here’s a new author you’ve never heard of but it’s a great story.”

Better: “Here’s a new author you’ve never heard of, but it’s a great story, and she’s getting major media and we’re really pushing it and it’s so much like Lee Child and we’ve got great advance reviews and Bill Clinton will provide a cover quote and Bill O’Reilly will write the introduction.”

Much better: And did I mention this Lee Child-toned story is about a sexy woman who commits grisly sex murders who escapes from jail and the sexy female FBI agent who brings her to justice? Did I mention it’s based on a true story and it will be a major motion picture just in time for your Christmas season…and did I mention Brad Pitt will play the roles of both sexy women and he makes out with himself? Think Fight Club, but with more lingerie and slow panning shots of Brad Pitt’s legs in ripped nylons.”

Tough sell: “Let me tell you about this quirky one with a niche hook that’s going to be a slow build but a cult hit over time.”

META ANALYSIS: That, I think, is a great description of Self-help for Stoners, Stuff to Read When You’re High (though I am biased.) The trouble with this pitch: It’s a short story collection (ouch!) that’s a self-help (Oh! Good and hopeful!) in fictional form (huh? Like parables? Like in the Bible?) and no, you don’t have to be a stoner to enjoy it. (Slow down. I think I have to be high to get all of that at once!)

Note the language: quirky, niche, slow build, cult hit, time. That’s too many caveats and double backs for a quick and easy sale because it sits across genres, squatting there in its damnable uniqueness.

Short shorthand sale: When I sell my post-apocalyptic and suspense novels, the sales pitch will be much quicker: Think Stephen King. Done.

CHECK OUT ALL THE BOOKS HERE

Publishers’ sales forces have diminished immensely since I was driving around with a car so heavy with books it ran low on the axles. Times have changed. When publishers talk about authors giving authors a big push now, what they really mean is the author is tech savvy and not shy. The author will do most of the publicity work, though that’s been true since the birth of the Internet, anyway.

Where have the big publicity opportunities gone? They went away when Oprah went away. She was the the book industry’s angel. Now the big angel is Jon Stewart, but that won’t help you if you sell fiction. The Daily Show is only for non-fiction. (The last fiction author on The Daily Show was Kurt Vonnegut, shortly before his death, and he talked mostly about his non-fiction book Man Without a Country.)

Forget big publicity.

Look for small publicity opportunities.

Radio is still a good publicity opportunity and you don’t have to travel anywhere. Contact radio show producers and pitch them, but remember fiction is still tough so to succeed, you’ll need an angle. (The easiest? I lost my job and now I’m a hometown start-up business and my book is set in this town and I kill hobos for sport…The Most Dangerous Game!) Morning radio is topical and lends itself to non-fiction books. Consider going after shows that are not radio prime time (i.e. the drive time slots.) Book a show that is a book show. You’ll find it easier to get on air with a university radio station.

The “push” comes from authors now. It’s up to you. Authors don’t just write anymore. We sell ourselves. I’ve got three blogs, a podcast and three twitter accounts. And that’s not nearly all the publicity I do or plan to do. I’ll be expanding in social media and beyond social media in the new year (TBA). And I really have to start chasing down reviewers for my books. (If you’re a book blogger or book reviewer and like suspense, let me know at expartepress@gmail.com.) All that social media is a lot to maintain while I’m getting a new novel written and revising the already-written novels. That’s three eight-hour shifts by my reckoning. Set up that intravenous by my desk! And make my new desk chair a toilet!

Can you pay for media coverage to increase sales? Ads are expensive and often ineffective, though I’ll give you some strategies to consider. You’ve already got an author page on Goodreads and you’re doing a book giveaway or a contest or guest blogging. You’ve considered paying for a Goodreads promotion, Amazon ads, the exclusive-to-Amazon offer and advertising with banners on websites. Those are all digital strategies that are already covered elsewhere ubiquitously, so let’s think about some retro, analog approaches for a change. We don’t think old school much, but it can be less expensive than some of the usual options if we’re creative.

Start thinking local, like the tiniest newspaper in town, not the big one. Contact the columnist who does the odd interview. Send a press release. Send a copy. Give him a hook. Maybe the story isn’t your book. Maybe the story is that you have three jobs and are near homeless but you’re still writing the Great American Novel. Or you were published in paper and switched to ebooks. The great ebook versus traditional publishing debate is pasted across the web, but it might be new to the columnist. (We forget what we’ve been soaking in for two or three years is outside the awareness of non-publishing civilians.) Maybe you make your own glue and paper to create your own books to sell from your website. Maybe your book promotion is tied in with a charity. Maybe you didn’t read until you were twenty-six and now you’re an author. Find a hook and be interesting. There’s often a way in if you’re clever.

Then think smaller. Instead of radio, start thinking about podcasts (either producing one yourself as a companion to the book like I did — Self-help for Stoners is on iTunes weekly and will soon be on Stitcher, as well — or sponsor a podcast.) Podcasts are cheaper and usually more targeted or more personal than regular radio.

Now think even smaller. What could be smaller? A newsletter. Just today an opportunity landed in my lap. A friend has a busy business and a newsletter to go with it. He offered me free space in his newsletter. It will go out to 2,000 of his clients with his personal recommendation. That sort of help is precious to me. Who do you know who has a newsletter? How can you expand your sphere of influence by thinking small? Even if you have to pay for the privilege, newsletter ad rates are cheaper than newspaper or magazines ads and are often better read.

Traditional wisdom is that cross-genre books have been a challenge to market to bookstores. But remember? A tough sell is not an impossible sell. Remember the store clerk in The Land of The Easy No? He is the enemy of innovation, profit and expanding minds and experiences. As small publishers, we can invest the time to convince others to try books that aren’t easy to sell. I have just three books on sale. I don’t have the constraints of a huge list where each book has mere seconds to hit or miss. I can take the time to connect with people and tell them more about the book and build enthusiasm.

In the big picture, I have more time and long tail sales opportunities. Now that my books are up for sale on the web, they’ll be up forever. I don’t have to worry about the bookstore packing them up and sending them back for credit six weeks from now. I don’t have a short sales window. I have a sales vista that stretches out, positively prairie-like. I have the time to find readers and for my readers to find my books. We can make quick decisions and invest time rather than cash.

Small companies have flexibility and enthusiasm that big companies do not. Big publishers have a distribution system (which diminishes steadily) and bigger budgets…but in many ways their promotion isn’t that much different from mine with most of their books. I’m selling my books so I care about each precious baby so much more.

How does a small publisher survive in The Land of the Easy No? Flexibility. Enthusiasm. Creative thinking. Innovation. And not falling for saying no too easily.

A difficult sale is not an impossible sale, and sometimes when a difficult book catches on, it catches fire. Too often a sales force mistakes a difficult sell in the short-term for an impossible sell. That’s why the first Harry Potter book was so hard for JK Rowling’s agent to sell to publishers. Rowling didn’t want it to even be a children’s book per se. From the beginning, she saw it as a cross-genre book for adults and children. That’s what it soon turned out to be despite all those editors and sales reps saying, “I can’t sell this.” Maybe what they really meant was, “Selling this will take more than a few seconds, so forget it. Make my job easier by giving me a book to sell that’s an easy yes.” A “Yes” means more work. A “No” means the problem is easily solved by missing a huge opportunity.

Big publishers depend heavily on the opinions of non-editorial staff. Salespeople I worked with thought of books as “products” and “brands” rather than “experiences”, “journeys” and “ideas.” They decided which products were quick, easy packages to sell. That’s why they miss out on opportunities to sell cross-genre books. It’s the same facile mistake as passing up selling Vivaldi for the latest boy band. The Vivaldi will sell more, for a longer time. Short-term thinking left a lot of publishers cutting the same sales force that so influenced their sales.

They lost out because they lived in The Land of The Easy No.

~ Robert Chazz Chute is the author of Self-help for Stoners, Stuff to Read When You’re High, Sex, Death & Mind Control (for fun and profit) and The Dangerous Kind. Download to your smartphone or e-reader. For more information on the book or the podcast, go to AllThatChazz.com.

Book Marketing: What I didn’t know about resistance to ebooks (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Publishers Desperately Trying To Protect Print Sales, And Failing (davidgaughran.wordpress.com)
Publishing News: “Hating Amazon is not a strategy” (radar.oreilly.com)
sell sell sell! (andreadreamin.com)

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, What about Chazz?, advertising, book marketing, book promotion, Brad Pitt, Lee Child, publishing, Sales, sales reps, self-publishing, short story, small publisher, Stephen King

12/12/2011 • 3:57 AM 11

Book Marketing: What I didn’t know about resistance to ebooks

I’ve been thinking about how to promote my books quite a bit. There was a lot I wasn’t sure about as I embarked on getting the word out. In the beginning, I didn’t know for sure if I even wanted hard copies of my book. I do want a printed book for Self-help for Stoners now (for various promotional experiments to be announced.) I didn’t know how hard it would be to ask friends to help spread the word. I didn’t know how difficult it would be to get friends to take the time to read and review the books and listen to my podcast. Even the people who care about me don’t necessarily care about my tales of suspense, comedy and magic realism.

I underestimated how loyal people are to the media they are used to. For instance, I know several people who want to support my work, but for one it has to be print only (I’m sure he’s not alone) and for another, she’ll have nothing to do with Amazon. She’s waiting for the Kobo version (so she’ll be waiting a long time unless she orders the print version straight from me.) I was getting a little down about that, but then Andrew, another kind fellow, said that though he’d prefer paper, failing that, he’d be ordering the ebooks anyway. Change happens, but not on my schedule.

And then there is traditional publishing’s inertia. It’s slowing, like a big ship that’s lost power but still has momentum in the Zeitgeist Sea. This afternoon I listened to the annual book recommendation show on CBC’s Cross Country Checkup. Dozens of callers recommended which books to buy for Christmas. Not a single ebook was in the mix. The CBC demographic either skews toward a generation that hasn’t bought its Kindles or iPads yet, or the resistance to the ebook revolution is so entrenched that we won’t see the CBC recommendations change until a cataclysmic shift, like Chapters closing its brick and mortar outlets. (For reasons I’ve already covered on this blog, that’s in the works, but it’s a process and won’t happen overnight. The change is as easy to predict as the contraction of HMV and the fall of Blockbuster, however.)

Another prejudice for us to overcome is the giggle factor. “Self-published?” (I covered that subject a week ago so I’ll not delve further into that.) But I face another giggle factor: my title is Self-help for Stoners, Stuff to Read When You’re High. An acquaintance saw my business card and said, “Stoner? You?” I replied that I had indulged. I also told him that many of my stories of suspense have elements of violence and murder. “The research for that…” I grinned, “well, let’s just say you’re worrying about the wrong thing, pal.”

I added that you didn’t have to be a stoner to enjoy my stories (though my standard joke is that anyone who is high is automatically a better audience…for anything.) Still, no sale there. He walked away worrying about my immortal soul and questioning what he thought he knew about me. (Answer: I’m complex. Like Batman. Okay?!)

In part, I chose Self-help for Stoners for cold and calculated strategic marketing reasons. It wasn’t just that it fit the book. Many titles might have fit the book. However, I had a short fiction collection (a difficult sell) that was a weird hybrid. I knew going in this would be a self-help book in the form of fiction. The fact that the book was inspired by two celebrity stoners to whom I dedicated the book also played a major role in my choice. For that collection I reached back to a non-MFA approved format: Amid the short stories and brain tickles, it’s kind of preachy. On purpose, it’s fiction that packs a point as well as a gut punch. Kind of like Vonnegut, it’s plot driven and yet there are forays into stories that invite the reader to introspection. It’s preachy in the same way The War of Art* is preachy: consciously and on purpose and without apology.

To the surprise of some, the book has nuance in that I do not advocate throughout for marijuana use for everyone. It’s not for everyone, but free speech and free thought and control over one’s own consciousness are things I do advocate throughout the book. This is a book that will have to find its audience or its audience will find it. However, I don’t regret the title. Collections of short fiction, and the weird hybrid this is, are a tough sell no matter how wonderful I think short stories are. They’re so tough, in fact, that I’m done with short fiction for a long time. The next books will all be novels. However, since stoners are a reading, identifiable market, I tailored many of the stories from Self-help for their enjoyment. (Yes, stoners are readers and are often an intellectual bunch. Don’t believe the hyped stereotype of a bunch of dumbasses blitzed on a beach. That’s alcohol.) My people will find me, either through my friends, my networks, social media or through my podcast of the same name. For any book to be successful, ultimately it will have to found through good reviews, excited readers and Google.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

1. Choose your title carefully. In the long term, targeting an identifiable niche will help me. In the short term, it’s uphill slogging.

2. Get a good cover. We’re told we’re not supposed to judge books by their covers, but of course we do. I did my cover for a novelette (The Dangerous Kind). I liked the cover well enough because it was for a 10,000 word story I’d sell as a loss leader for 99 cents. In retrospect, I’d ask Kit Foster, my graphic designer, to do that cover now. I recognize the elements that go into a great cover but I can’t create one. I have no idea how Kit does his magic. I just know that I get a lot of compliments about how good the covers are for Self-help for Stoners and Sex, Death & Mind Control.

3. Have a strategy. I named the book strategically, but perhaps more important, I named the podcast strategically, too: It has the same name. In the long run, I’ll probably find more people through the Self-help for Stoners podcast (delivered free and weekly through iTunes) than any other strategy I plan to use (except one.)

4. Don’t be a jerk, but don’t be too shy, either. Keep asking for help spreading the word. Just be sure you give lots of positive content beside the occasional request for reviews, shares and assistance. It’s not begging when you’re giving more than you’re receiving. It’s quid pro quo, the basis of all civilization.

5. You noticed the end of point three and you wondered, “What’s that about?” What’s the ‘except one?’ “ The best strategy is to keep on writing the next book and the next and the next. Revise and edit the hell out of them. After about book five, you have a better shot at getting noticed.

It’s a process. It doesn’t tend to happen quickly until a critical mass of forays— failing, learning and winning— are traveled through. I’m on my journey and these are exciting times at Ex Parte Press. Last week, I finally got the print formatting done for Self-help for Stoners by calling in the cavalry (thanks to Jeff Bennington). This weekend my graphic designer (the inimitable Kit of KitFosterDesign.com) and I finalized the cover for the paper book. Kit even put a new logo together for me (pictured above right). Some things are coming together, but a lot more is not. It’s a learning experience. Some day I’ll look back and say these scary times were the most exciting.

*And by Thor and all that’s holy, if you’re a writer and you haven’t read The War of Art yet, do!

Stuff to Listen to When You’re High (allthatchazz.com)
On judging books by their covers (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The downside of cheap ebooks (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Self-publishers: Why I went multimedia (and why you should, too) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Self-publishing and ebook predictions for 2012 – Taleist (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: Books, ebooks, Publicity & Promotion, Rejection, What about Chazz?, What about you?, Writers, writing tips, book promotion, Cross Country Checkup, E-book, Kobo, publicity, publishing, self-help for stoners, short story

11/28/2011 • 2:10 PM 1

Check out these authors and enter a contest for Amazon gift cards

UPDATE:

This contest is closed. But you can still buy the books! Keep the love going for these enterprising authors.

(NEW POST FORM ME COMING LATER TODAY.)

Not only can you help out these authors, you might win a gift card, too. This is also a great case study in book promotion. Consider that these four authors banded together for this very effective promotion. They contacted bloggers and simply asked for some help to promote awareness and sales of their books for the next couple of days. An amazing number of bloggers (me included) were happy to help. Sometimes all you have to do is ask and add a little bonus for readers (like the contest). It’s a win-win-win: Bloggers provide an opportunity for readers, value is added for blog readers and readers hear about books they otherwise might have missed out on. Check out the books and enjoy a good read. Or four!

Support Four Debut Authors and Snag $125!

Four books

Two Days

Great Prizes

With this contest, there is something for everyone and it’s SO simple to be in on the winning!

On November 28 and/or 29, purchase 1 or all 4 of the debut author’s books listed here. Then forward proof of purchase (the receipt Amazon sends you will do just fine) to : motionsrider@yahoo.ca and get up to 4 entries into a draw for a $100 Amazon gift card!

It’s that easy, no reviews, no hoops to jump through. Just a great .99 book or two. Or three or four. AND, if the person who wins the $100 Amazon Gift Card has purchased all 4 books, an additional $25 Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to the winner!

On top of that, 2 random commenter’s picked from 2 of our participating blogs will receive $5 gift Amazon gift cards . So, be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the promo, the books, or the authors.

Winners will be chosen randomly, one entry per person, per book.

All winners will be announced on December 7^th on Wringing Out Words (http://shannonmayer.blogspot.com)

“Between” by Cyndi Tefft

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water’s life isn’t alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile, and Scottish accent.

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven’s siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Between-ebook/dp/B004XZUMBA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322190792&sr=1-1

“Until Dawn: Last Light” by Jennifer Simas

When darkness falls, whose side will you be on?

For the past six years, Zoë has been anything but “normal.” Struggling to accept her immortality and thrown into a war that’s been waging in the shadows for over a thousand years, Zoë must now become who she was meant to be, joining the other Chosen to save what’s left of humanity. When the endless night falls over the Earth, will she be able to save the one man who reminds her of what it is to be human, or will it be too late?

Until Dawn: Last Light is a story of death and despair, love and longing, hope and hopelessness, and the ability to survive and keep going even when it seems impossible – when you want nothing more than to give up.

Link- http://www.amazon.com/Until-Dawn-Last-Light-ebook/dp/B005QUIXJY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322190717&sr=1-1

“The Kayson Cycle” by Jonathan D. Allen

A stranger enters a dying town and makes a desperate plea…

The Kayson Cycle introduces the Kayson Brothers, a pair of faith healers who once wowed crowds in a traveling show but went their separate ways after a night in which a healing took a dark turn. Jeffrey Kayson disappeared into the wilderness and William Kayson, wracked by guilt, moved to the failing mining town of Calico Hills to build a nice, quiet life – one that has lasted for over ten years.

His quiet, predictable life crumbles when a mysterious stranger walks into his tavern bearing a proposal to find his long-lost brother and do the one thing that William has sworn to never do again – have his brother heal a woman. William soon learns that he can’t escape his family – or his destiny.

Includes an exclusive sample chapter of The Corridors of the Dead. Please note that this is a Kindle Single, and around 6,000 words in length.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Kayson-Cycle-ebook/dp/B0061FDUA0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322190892&sr=1-1

“Sundered” by Shannon Mayer

A miracle drug, Nevermore, spreads like wildfire throughout the world allowing people to eat what they want, and still lose weight. It is everything the human population has ever dreamed of and Mara is no different. Only a simple twist of fate stops her from taking Nevermore.

As the weeks roll by, it becomes apparent that Nevermore is not the miracle it claimed. A true to life nightmare, the drug steals the very essence that makes up humanity and unleashes a new and deadly species on the world that is bent on filling its belly. Locked down within their small farm home, Mara and her husband Sebastian struggle against increasingly bad odds, fighting off marauders and monsters alike.

But Sebastian carries a dark secret, one that more than threatens to tear them apart, it threatens to destroy them both and the love they have for each other.

Now Mara must make the ultimate choice. Will she live for love, or will she live to survive?

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Sundered-Nevermore-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B005KOIVH0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315021535&sr=8-3

The 4 Debut Authors’ Contest!!! (renthewriter.com)
Announcements, Contests, Fun Stuff: Win MONEYS Help Charity (jonathandallen.com)
The Kayson Cycle now available on Amazon! (jonathandallen.com)

Filed under: authors, Publicity & Promotion, Amazon, book, book promotion, Gift card, Kayson Cycle

11/21/2011 • 6:02 PM 3

Self-publishers: Why I went multimedia (and why you should, too)

Movie of an precessing gyroscope. Generated by...

Image via Wikipedia

Boy, did I have an eye-opener this morning that left me spinning! I shouldn’t have been surprised, but when you write and publish and do your thing, you naturally assume everybody gets your message at the same speed and time. Well, I naturally assumed that.

And I was wrong. Again.

Last night I posted a little promotional trailer for my books. It wasn’t anything fancy nor was it specific to one book. I was just playing around with iMovie. I had never messed with it before and I didn’t even look at a tutorial or read a help topic. I wasn’t feeling great, so I thought I’d use an otherwise unproductive Sunday afternoon to do something fun. I’ve blogged about book trailers before and generally I take a dim view of them. Let’s be honest: most book trailers suck. In fact, I might argue that the little movie I made kind of sucks, but first, a review of my problems with book trailers:

A book trailer is a commercial. People don’t like long commercials and most book trailers go on way too long. Nobody watches a commercial and wishes it was longer except for the old Old Spice commercials (that showed wit) and the commercials for the beer favoured by The Most Interesting Man in the World. From my research, I found what most authors have found: book trailers don’t sell books. John Locke points out that little movies about your books appeal to the author’s vanity but don’t do much for most readers and do nothing to increase sales. Some say that if you’re going to make a book trailer, make it funny or forget it. Or spend some real money on it, go big or stay home.

Despite all that, I did make that trailer for my books. (It’s in the post directly below this one if you’re curious.) Given all that I’ve said, why bother with a trailer at all? I made it for a very specific reason. It’s posted on YouTube, but really, I’m sure that’s not going to do anything. I posted it on Google+ and Facebook, but that’s probably nothing more than an idle curiosity or for people who, I’m almost sure, already know what I’m up to for the most part. For me, the trailer had to be of specific use for Goodreads.

I put the trailer on my Goodreads author profile. There are many authors on Goodreads and it’s a great forum for book lovers. If you want to read reviews and find books you might not otherwise find, it’s the place to be. I was slow to adopt Goodreads, but now I love it. However, it’s not a good place to promote yourself as an author and when you do much of anything outside of your own profile, you have to be very careful not to appear spammy. Sure, you’re filled with joy at the latest review or publishing milestone, but venture out into the forums with that same joy and someone will call you out pretty quick for subverting the mission of Goodreads. It’s for readers, not for writers. (If, as an author, you want to advertise on Goodreads, there’s a proper route for that and it requires payment and mucho dinero.)

I was shocked and embarrassed to find that I’d already violated Goodreads’ etiquette. I got a really great review for one of my books and I thought it only polite to thank the reviewer with a note on the post. The Powers That Be don’t want authors to thank reviewers. I can see, in the big picture, why they don’t want authors to do that. Maybe reviewers would be less honest if they were self-conscious or trying for thank you notes from authors. Worse, authors might also fall into responding to bad reviews, which we should never, ever do. Mmmm…almost never ever.

So how does one distinguish oneself on Goodreads without running afoul of the Goodreads sheriff and the good townspeople? Be nice. (I hope that’s not an act, Dexter Morgan.) Engage. Act like a reader and be passive about your self-promotion. Keep the self-promotion to a minimum and keep it on your page, no one else’s. No spam mail and nothing that could appear to a reasonable person as a personal agenda. Crank the helpfulness and interest up to maximum and just be you. (Unless you’re a serial killer.)

Goodreads devotes a lot of instructional text to authors so we can learn the proper rules of comportment and etiquette on the site. If you don’t adhere, they might kick you out or at least make you feel bad. Most author pages look pretty much the same, so I made a trailer to put on my page (not to send out to The People of Earth, awaiting applause.) Some people are more willing to watch a little movie than read through your witty little bio and personal mind map of the dreamscape you intend to self-actualize. I hoped to distinguish myself by having a little movie where many authors do not.

(Yes, at the end of this post, I’ll tell you the shocker I got, but first…)

So I have books on Kindles and smartphones and e-readers thither and yon. And now I have video (be it ever so humble.) I also went with audio. Here’s where things get really interesting. Podcasts are the new radio. I hardly ever listen to old radio unless I’m trapped in a car in a snow bank in a snowstorm with two broken legs and cannibalizing a Lutheran in a coma. It still astonishes me when I say the word “podcast” and get a blank look. I listen to podcasts constantly. The wonder of internet radio allows me to get through all the mundane tasks, like washing dishes, doing laundry and spaying the neighbour’s cat with lawn darts. Blindfolded. (Me, not the cat. Where’s the sport, otherwise?)

Writing and producing and performing a podcast seemed to me the natural companion strategy to writing books. I wrote Self-help for Stoners, Stuff to Read When You’re High. Why not cross-promote with a weekly comedy podcast that features excerpts from the book? I called the podcast Self-help for Stoners and naturally the tagline is Stuff to Listen to When You’re High. It’s up on iTunes. The combination is an easy fit. I had a little background in radio. I’m not at ease on the mic at all, but I’m relearning those skills, like how to sound natural again.

The book is a weird hybrid I could easily draw from for a weekly comedy podcast. It’s mostly fiction with suspenseful elements, but there are funny stories, parables, exhortations, weird facts and brain tickles. When it’s preachy, it’s preachy on purpose and, I think, entertainingly so. There’s even a sci-fi story in the mix! It’s a collection that most publishers wouldn’t touch, but from my background in traditional publishing, I decided that those reasons were bad reasons. I had a book with a hook. (And no, you don’t have to be a stoner to enjoy the fun. Many people are surprised when they find some stories challenge the idea that being a stoner is even a good idea.)

If that sounds like a lot of work that has nothing to do with writing books, you’re right…sort of. I write full-time. This all I do, so I have more time than most. Yes, I know how lucky I am and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for my family’s support. I tell them every day. As She Who Must Be Obeyed ventures out into the real world each morning, I say, “Win that bread and bring home that bacon, Ward!” She says, “Have a good day, June.” And then I skip (no, not metaphorically) back into the house and to my desk, into unreal worlds. The book feeds the podcast, but the podcast can inform the rest of my writing and, most important, touch an audience I would not otherwise reach. I podcast so the books I write may be read.

But what about you, you, you? Podcasts are everywhere on any topic you can dream up. It’s cheap promotion. It’s fun (mostly). You might make new friends and find a new readership. If you aren’t already podcasting, you should consider it. Or think about advertising on a podcast. That’s also inexpensive compared to traditional avenues. Podcast the same way you blog: talk about those things that ignite your passion, stimulate your skull box or tickle you silly. Get a friend to co-host and you’ve got a conversation. (I have no friends so I’m doing it solo. “But someday…” he said wistfully.)

But that’s not all. There’s Facebook, of course, though that’s generally more for tight amigos than business. Facebook has its problems as a business outlet (but this post is already too long and overuses the delightful parenthetical so let’s move on briskly.) Aside from blogging for writers and the self-published here, I also post on my Goodreads blog and on allthatchazz.com, the site for my readers. (If I ever say “fans,” drag me out into the street and reinvent the guillotine.)

Whenever I have down time (among the many tasks of formatting for ebooks, formatting for print, administrivia and…oh yeah, actually writing my books) I maintain three Twitter accounts. You probably know me from @RChazzChute on Twitter and such industrial films as “Whose Thumb is in the Fry-o-later?” @RChazzChute is where I meet most of my writing friends and fellow self-publishers. I got frustrated with Twitter’s whacky algorithm that slows me from following more people, so I went for more Twitter accounts.

@Expartepress (from my company name) is geared to readers and for activism. My pets are free speech, Occupy Everywhere and sovereign choices wherever no one else gets hurt, like eating Lutherans, for instance.

To promote the podcast, I let loose on @THECHAZZSAYS. I do an explicit comedy podcast, so when I have something edgy to say, it’s probably there (though some of you are already pissed off at me for the cat spaying joke. Most everyone who isn’t a Lutheran is okay with the cannibalism joke, however.)

So my target audiences are: Writers, Readers and the People of Earth With a Sense of Humour and an Interest in Fiction. It’s a small target but I can hit it.

What and how much is right for you?: Yes, multimedia promotion is a lot of work but don’t whine about the workload if you choose it for yourself. Whining is unattractive.

I only do as much as I enjoy and the core writing always comes first. I wrote 11 pages of my new novel this morning, thank you very much.

Wait, wait! What about your terrible mistake? You said you’d tell us why you’re a complete idiot, Chazz! Oh. Right. Ahem. I’ve written this blog for some time. I’ve talked about my books and I’ve blogged about the craft of writing and editing extensively. I figured regular readers already knew what I was up to. However, this morning a fellow writer commented that the book trailer was cute. And…wait for it…up until she saw the trailer, she thought my books were all non-fiction.

Ack!

Gulp!

Well, that’s humbling. I thought I’d already reached my immediate circle with my promise of suspense, fun, literature and frivolity. I failed to do that with someone who has guest blogged here and comments often. That’s not her fault. She’s a peach. The fault is mine. Maybe I didn’t talk long enough. Maybe I wasn’t short and pithy. Maybe the titles were misleading. For whatever reason I am not at this moment discerning through my haze of tears for fears, it took the book trailer for her to hear, “Hi, I’m Robert Chazz Chute and I think you’ll enjoy my fiction.”

If I can’t promote general awareness of my books, actual sales are farther off than I thought.

Her confusion is a signal to me. If it’s true for one, it’s often true for many.

Clearly, I have more promotional work to do. Much more.

You probably do, too.

Here’s a trailer for my books. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
What if I don’t have a book trailer? (usaukwoods.wordpress.com)
Hurray! I have an author profile on Goodreads! (allthatchazz.com)
book trailers (fremontlibraries.wordpress.com)
Brainfluence Book Trailer (neurosciencemarketing.com)

Filed under: book trailer, Books, getting it done, Publicity & Promotion, readers, self-publishing, Social Media, What about Chazz?, book promotion, Dexter Morgan, Facebook, Goodreads, John Locke, multimedia, Old Spice, podcasts, promotion, Trailer, YouTube

06/20/2011 • 2:10 AM 9

Book promotion for self-publishers

As a self-publisher, you probably can’t afford to splash a big ad across the back page of the New York Times (and that’s of limited use anyway.) What is useful is connecting with people. Be genuine and you can share and spread useful information that brings good karma down the line. In this video I talk about Jeff Bennington’s Reunion blog tour. I won a Kindle, but I would have promoted his novel anyway. Here’s why:

Support authors. Buy books. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
6 Effective Ways to Promote Your Book (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Spam Invades the Kindle Store (techland.time.com)
Createspace or Lightning Source: Pros & cons breakdown (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The publisher’s temperament (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, Books, Publicity & Promotion, self-publishing, book promotion, Jeff Bennington, low cost ways to sell books, Reunion

06/16/2011 • 1:05 AM 22

6 Effective Ways to Promote Your Book

Today’s guest post is from the author of Reunion, Jeff Bennington! I forget how I ran across Jeff, though it could have been a lot of places since Jeff is a powerful experimenter in the realm of book promotion. His site is The Writing Bomb. He’s also blogged here before on CreateSpace versus Lightning Source–a very popular post, and for good reason: Jeff’s generous with what he learns. Here’s what he picked up from his book campaigns:

In the world of publishing, authors have found many ways to promote their work ranging from book signings with a 3-piece orchestra to dressing up like their characters. After publishing two novels, I’ve tried some of those crazy stunts, but from my experience, there are a few affordable and effective ways to promote your book online that won’t leave you looking like Barney the dinosaur. In fact, online marketing has been touted, and likely is, the best way for an author to promote his or her work.

However, authors have to approach marketing differently based on their genre and subject matter. And let’s be clear, when you promote your book, you can’t always expect immediate gratification and you’re not guaranteed sales. Your premise will drive readers to read a sample and the excerpt will determine your sales. And so, the quality of your writing is ultimately the best sales pitch.

The best promotion for me has come from the following:

#1 Goodreads.com: Goodreads “giveaways” are an incredible tool to publicize your book. I recently posted Reunion in a giveaway and had 787 bites in 5 days, beating out bestsellers that have been on the list for months.

HINT: Don’t post more than one book to give away and do it in one-week spurts. You’ll have to trust me on this.

I also like what my ad on Goodreads is doing. The thing with Goodreads is not how many clicks or sales you get, but how many folks “add” your book to their “to be read” list. When they do that, they are more or less planning on buying your book when they get to it, and they will, because most readers on Goodreads are avid readers and love talking about what they read, so they will also rate and review your book, which is another benefit of that site.

Another secret here is that if you spend X amount of dollars on an ad, you will likely get a lot more “adds” than clicks, which is good because it is a pay-per-click system. But if folks add your book without clicking on the ad then you have effectively extended the life of your ad immeasurably.

#2 Blog: If you don’t have a blog or you’re afraid of starting one or you think it’s too much

Jeff Bennington

work, then plan on writing your book solely for your mother to enjoy because blogging is only the beginning of what it takes to market your book…and it’s the easiest. It’ll only get harder and more expensive from there.

#3 Kindlenation.com: This is a very good site but you’ll have to plan months in advance to run an ad. It will definitely make your money back and more because they have a lot of readers who buy what they advertise. Programs run from $119 to $349. Kindle Nation reaches from 7,500 to 15,000+ opt-in readers. I paid $99 for an ad that ran in mid May and sold over 200 copies that day. So if you make $2 or $3 a book and spend $119…do the math.

#4 Twitter, Facebook, email lists: These are the most obvious and basic starting points. I’ll put it this way, I got all four of my book blurbs through Twitter connections, two of which are bestselling authors. If you can get that elsewhere, go for it. Basically, you have to tell your social marketing pals about your book.

And, this is important, you have to share their work too.

If you blast your friends and followers with your personal spam, they will retweet and share less and less the more you do it. Share what they are doing and chat with them and you’ll notice a marked difference in how receptive they are to spreading the word about your book. I’ve experimented with this and I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that cross promotion helps.

Strict self-promotion hurts.

However, I have found that tweeting short blurbs, such as “A Riveting and Incredibly Powerful Story of Pain and Triumph!” grabs reader’s attention more than, “Check out my new book, REUNION”. Try both methods and see which works better. Be sure to include a “tiny url” to allow room for your #tags.

HINT: Use the twitter share button on the right side of your Amazon sales page. It has the shortest “tiny url” I’ve seen yet.

#5 Ereadernewstoday.com: I’m on the schedule, so I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard that Ereadernewstoday.com is a good site to advertise on. This program is $25 a day. Emails will reach about 10,000 book readers through opted-in email blasts.

#6 Blog Tour: Plan for a lot of work. It can be nearly free, but will be the most time consuming. However, if your book sucks, I think a blog tour can backfire. I’m just sayin’.

If you go this route, you better get your book professionally edited and proofed and have a great cover and good formatting because that’s what book bloggers and reviewers expect.

Basically, when it comes to promoting your book. You better make sure it is a damn good book or you’ll have a 7-digit Amazon ranking within a month. I know. I’ve seen it. But don’t get overwhelmed. I’m a newer author and I’m not breaking any records, but I believe these six methods of promotion will help you tremendously, especially if you are in the process of building your platform as I am.

Thanks for reading. What methods have you used to promote your book? How did it turn out? Let me know.

Jeff Bennington, author of REUNION & other thrillers

CLICK THE COVER TO BUY REUNION NOW:

And here are more of Jeff’s links:

The Rumblin’

Killing the Giants

The Writing Bomb

www.jeffbennington.com

Life & book marketing update shouted from a speeding car (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The agony and ecstasy of self-publishing a book! (lindacassidylewis.com)
How to Get the Most out of GoodReads (unputdownables.net)
What’s goodreads good for? (debsanswers.wordpress.com)
How To Get the Most Out of GoodReads (blogher.com)
Promotional Strategies 101 (writingtomarketing.wordpress.com)
Find Your Next Book To Read With Goodreads [Android] (makeuseof.com)
Writers Need a Web Presence. Here’s What That Means (writeanything.wordpress.com)
Goodreads Makes Great Readers (freetech4teachers.com)

Filed under: Books, Guest blog post, Publicity & Promotion, Writers, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Author, book promotion, Cross-promotion, Facebook, Goodreads, Jeff Bennington, Lightning Source, Reunion, Twitter

06/12/2011 • 3:58 AM 3

Life & book marketing update shouted from a speeding car

Happy Sunday. Things are moving somewhat quickly as I start making transitions to writing full-time. I have a marketing plan: It’s important to be prolific. I believe in being available across as many e-platforms as possible (and zero DRM). Having just one ebook up won’t cut it. Being prolific allows cross-promotion (e.g. You like this? Then you might like to buy that, too!)

Over the coming months I’ll be offering individual short stories (at 0.99 each), a collection of short stories ($1.99 or 2.99, haven’t decided yet), a novella ($1.99) and another collection of short stories with a quirky hook I can market effectively ($2.99). At some point I’ll package the aforementioned individual stories—there are six—in another book (conveniently priced at $2.99 probably.)

There are several full-length novels that are written and need revision before they’re ready to be swallowed by the masses, but most of them are for next year.

A few things about the slingshot launches:

1. I’m doing a soft launch until I have a bunch of ebooks available. Then I’ll be carpet bombing (more details to come in another post on what that means.)

2. I will be launching another website in addition to this one. Chazz Writes is all about writing craft and publishing and I intend to continue. However, I have broader plans for the new website that will expand my mandate and goals. I’ll be talking about a lot of different things on the new site.

3. And I do mean talking. I’ll be incorporating video and podcasts. Fancy plans with pants to match. More on that closer to the new website launch.

4. I want to do a hard launch of the first novel in my line, but I’m not sure if I can pull it together for Christmas. There are more than the usual variables. For instance, I need to get permissions to use the names of a major Hollywood star and a major porn star. (Yes, I’m familiar with the rules of fair use—and both characters as they appear in the novel are adored by the hero. However, this isn’t a fair use issue. It’s a Smashwords rule issue.)

5. I’m not in the least interested this year in printing books with which to assail bookstores. It’s a lot of work for less reward. It’s an exciting venture I do not, at present, have time to pursue. (And yes, I’ve looked at the numbers.)

6. However, I will need printed Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) for promotional purposes when the hard launch takes off. I’ll be using CreateSpace to print a few sample copies since there is no punishing fee for each revision. For bigger print runs, once the formatting is solidified, I’ll switch to Lightning Source.

If you’re wondering how I’ll get it all done, sometimes I wonder, too. Then I remember that I’m severely underemployed. (Except for the soul-crushing poverty, it’s a fantastic advantage and a real time saver.)

There’s more to the book marketing and promotion plan and I’ll share it with you as soon as I can. In the meantime, back to my editing suite in the batcave beneath the bunker under the Chuck E. Cheese.

Thanks to my buddies Jeff Bennington, author of Reunion, and author Rebecca Senese (look her up, she’s a fountain of short stories), for clarifying my strategy on the issues in #6. Both these lovely people have guest blogged here. You’ll remember Rebecca did a great job summarizing the workings of Smashwords and Jeff compared CreateSpace with Lightning Source. (If you don’t remember their posts, search this site in the search box top right. Sorry! I’d link it for you but I’m in a huge hurry just this minute. I bet you can guess why when you see this tiny portion of my to-do list.)

Jeff tells me he will do me the honour of another guest blog soon. I think the discussion will be about book promotion and what he found effective for his massive push for Reunion.

Write. Commit. Do. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, blogs & blogging, Books, DIY, e-reader, ebooks, getting it done, Publicity & Promotion, publishing, What about Chazz?, Writers, book launch, book promotion, Chazz Writes, Createspace, fiction, Lightning Source, Podcast, Reunion, short story, Smashwords

06/07/2011 • 4:23 PM 1

Making a Living Writing Fiction (via Self-Published Author’s Lounge)

This is a good read. Recommended!

When I went into my dashboard, I noticed the more people were searching for this topic than any other, so I thought I’d make a post about it. Is it possible? Yes. I didn’t always think so, and from the agents, editors, and traditionally published authors I’ve talked to, they didn’t think so either. But if you self-publish, I think you have a good chance. Besides writing a good book, having a great cover, and polishing up your book the best y … Read More

via Self-Published Author's Lounge

Filed under: publishing, book promotion, distribution, making-a-living-writing-fiction, relating-to-readers

06/02/2011 • 3:29 AM 0

Book promotion: I was wrong

I used to be a book publicist and, as a book sales rep, have worked with book publicists. Gotta say: not impressed with the breed. Most have a shiny coat, bark loudly, no teeth. I expected a lot of them. I don’t think I was wrong then, but now that the tech and culture have changed, I realize I’ve expected too much from publishers and their publicists.

In the old days, publicists organized events, book tours, mailed out advanced reading copies (ARCs) and hoped for reviews. The publicists I knew were pretty smug and full of themselves, especially considering how frequently they were unsuccessful.

The other wrinkle in the mix from an author’s point of view is, if you’re with a trad publisher, the publicity department has little time to get attention to any one book or author. The other continual complaint is, besides the small media/promotion window, most of the promotion budget always goes to the author who seems to need it least. That’s the publisher trying to maximize profits (rather than pimping a mid-list author.)

The world has changed and authors need to shift expectations: Publishers don’t publicize your book much and mostly download marketing duties to the author. That annoyed me. Now I think that’s the way it should be.

My reasoning is that the author/reader relationship has changed. Readers don’t want to interact with your publisher. They want to interact with you. Who cares about publishers. With the exception of Harlequin—the one company where you always know what you’re going to get—publishers don’t have brands. Authors have brands.

Old model:

Send stuff out (press releases, ARCs, bookmarks, catalogs, book tours) hoping media will bite.

New model:

Engage readers directly with Twitter conversations, blogger reviews and blog tours and hoping they will bite.

Yes, there’s still room for old model tactics, but they are either limited, outmoded, less effective or costly.

So nevermind that your publisher’s publicists aren’t returning your calls two weeks out from your book launch. Chances are they’re busy with another book and have expended your promotional budget. You can do better for yourself over the long run, anyway. (Or you can hire your very own publicist and do it up right for a longer time.)

Publishers unloaded marketing responsibilities to authors for budgetary reasons. Authors should shoulder that responsibility for a better reason:

Your readers want to talk to you, not them.

21 Bold Predictions: The changing future of books (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Amanda Hocking Effect: She didn’t sell out. Trad publishing bought in. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
E-book sales triple from a year ago, now top-selling book format (pdresources.wordpress.com)
Writing Conference Cataclysm: Ebooks versus the Amish (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Rant, Author, blog tours, book promotion, Bookselling, publicist, Publish, self-publishing, Twitter

06/01/2011 • 3:55 AM 2

Writers: What are you worth?

At last week’s Writer’s Union of Canada conference in Toronto, an author asked the head of ECW Press: “Why should authors should get a royalty of 25% (of net) when they could get 70% publishing on their own digitally?”

Good question.

The question rose from a discussion of ECW’s new ebook imprint. The replies from the panel were interesting. First there was the assertion of the value of editorial input, an advance of $500 and a promotion budget of $800. Production cost was $1600. So, the publisher’s risk up front was $2,900. The ebook price was set at $9.95 (though Amazon dropped the price to $7.96.)

The publisher emphasized his risk, saying that most of these ebooks haven’t been runaway successes and, because they are solely digital, it’s difficult (or impossible) to get them reviewed in traditional venues. The Globe & Mail refuses to review ebooks, even though ECW is a traditional publisher. (Insert your own joke about the fragility of newspapers’ relevance here.)

By now, my objections to these answers are pretty obvious: 70% is more, the publisher’s price point is too high for the competition, hire your own editor (edit and hire a graphic designer for less than $1600 and format it yourself), $800 for promotion* , $500 advance and giving up e-rights frankly doesn’t make me swoon.

Am I missing something here? And, as a writer, what about your risk? What about all your time and energy invested as a writer? It takes much more of your finite resources to produce a book out of nothing than it does to shepherd it through to publication. Right?

What do you think? I welcome your comments.

Next post: Promoting your book.