On Marketing: Post Number Ten

Speaking at Conferences, Niche Audiences, and the Like

I’ve saved this venue of marketing until last because, for me, it’s been the most effective and profitable way of marketing my books. Why? There are several reasons:

1. When I’m invited to speak, the inviting party usually pays for, at least, travel expenses. I don’t have to put my own money up front. Most of the time, I also receive a speaking honorarium as well.
2. For some reason, authors are held in high regard in our society. People want to “get close to” authors and sometimes treat them like celebrities (even though you might be a no-name), so they will buy your book to take a piece of you home with them!
It has been calculated that, when you speak, you can usually sell to at least a quarter of your audience. So, when I stand before a crowd, I usually have favorable sales. I’ve always had the opportunity to display my books on a table and sell before and after my spiel. I remember one time, I spoke on a Saturday at a ladies’ seminar in a New York town that hosted about 250 attendees. I took 50 of my Bible study guides with me and could have sold more (besides the first two books in the Keystone Stables series.)

So, if you haven’t developed a platform for yourself yet, spend some time thinking about that. If you’ve had a book published, then you can be considered an “expert” about something you’ve written. Speaking engagements WILL sell your books. You just need to get your name out there and go for it.

And what kind of speaking engagements are most profitable? Here is the list that has helped me become a best-selling author:
1. Writers conferences – other writers want to read what has brought you your measure of success.
2. Church events, i.e. ladies’ days, children’s Sunday schools, Mother/Daughter banquets, homeschool gatherings – of course, with my Bible study guide, homeschool book, and K.Stables books, these groups are my niche.
3. Schools and niche audience clubs, i.e. riding academies
4. Community organizations, i.e. Senior Citizens clubs
5. Bookstores (I’ve already addressed this issue. Make sure you are there on a BIG sales day of an authors’ fest day when a group of authors are invited) Sometimes, the manager will want you to do a reading. That helps draw an audience.
6. Radio and TV interviews (I’ve not been fortunate enough to do any TV)

And one last note about speaking. With the explosion in technology, I’ve converted all my “speeches” to colorful, graphics-active Power Points, and the audiences love them. It’s the most entertaining way to keep everyone focused on your books and you, and you can have a good time doing it, as well.

Well there you have my marketing heart in a huge nutshell.We’ve discussed 10 different venues for marketing your book over the last few weeks. Analyze your niche audience, plan a strategy to sell books, and hit the road, Jack.

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Nine

What About Self Publishing?

(No matter which way you go, you’ve got to SELL, SELL, SELL yourself and your book.)

These days, there’s a lot to be said about self publishing your own book. In fact, most of the writer friends I know have gone this route because of the difficulty, and LONG process, of being accepted and published by a royalty (paying) company.

There are several ways to go with this venue, and all involve YOUR OWN money up front, but if you want to see your name in print, it’s the only option you might have. You’ll have a choice of hard or soft cover, the number of pages, color or B/W photos, and the layout of the entire book. Here are some of your choices:

1. Go to an inexpensive “print shop” that will print exactly what you put on the CD and give them. But here’s a warning! Be sharp on your own editing and revising because there will be none from the print shop. If you spell “Mnoday” wrong in your manuscript, that’s what will be in your final product. Yes, the process is relatively cheap compared to other self publishing options, but you better be pretty darned good with your PUGS (punctuation, usage, grammar, spelling), or you might be embarrassed when you get your book in print and discover that your title is spelled wrong. (I actually have seen a self published book with an apostrophe used incorrectly in the title. Zowie!)
2. Hire an independent editor/”publisher,” usually one person who’s experienced in getting you your ISBN, designing the book cover, and placing your book on Amazon and a few other sites. The cost is minimal compared to what a “Vanity Press” company would charge you. Just be careful who you hire. Get references and take a look at the books the person has already “published” for other authors. Take a look at my Loves of Snyder County trilogy. They were “published” by an independent editor/publisher, Sue Fairchild, and she did an excellent job.
3. Submit your manuscript to the latest craze in self publishing: “partnership” publishing, which is becoming a very popular way to publish with struggling smaller royalty companies. If you enter into a contract with this type of company, it will give you no money up front, BUT it won’t ask you for any money up front either. The company will provide editors to perfect your manuscript, and when the final product comes out, the company will also help to promote it by posting it on numerous websites, review sites, and markets like Amazon. Check out THE SECRET OF WOLF CANYON on my website www.marshahublerauthor.com for this final product. (The publishing company that did this book became a “partnership” company right after they finished my project. I was the last book they published where the author had to put his/her money up front. Gosh and gee whiz, what an honor!)

Now, if you decide that you no longer have the patience to wait for a royalty company to come knocking on your door and you do have the capital to proceed, then go for it. Just decide which way you want to go. And one other small but important detail: make sure you get an ISBN number installed on the back cover. Some print shops or publishing companies will NOT provide this and you must apply and pay for the number yourself. Other companies WILL do that work for you (for a fee). If you plan to try to market your book anywhere in stores or on eBay, you must have the ISBN, or your book cannot be sold through these venues.

Happy publishing! (Next time: Marketing Through Speaking Engagements)

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Eight

Today we’ll discuss several of the more expensive ways to promote your books. Remember, I’ve said it takes money to make money, and when you promote and market yourself, it does take bucks.

How many bucks you want to invest in your marketing strategy depends on your financial situation. Mine is quite limited, but here are three techniques that have worked for me over the years:

1. Rent vendor’s space at conventions, conferences, or gatherings of like-minded folk. One of the best places I’ve sold books is at the annual PA state homeschool convention held every May for two days in a huge hall with over 150 vendors. Yes, the vending fee is expensive, and each year I just about break even, but as I’ve said before, “exposure is the key to successful book sales.” Thousands of homeschoolers attend this event every year. Usually, if families buy one or two books, they come back for more the next year or buy others online or at book stores. One year, even with the poor economy, I sold 200 books at the homeschool convention over a two-day period. I’ve also had vending space at craft fairs and “horsie” events, most with reasonable vending fees, which paid off in the long run.

2. Offer special deals with your book sales. I have all kinds of special deals. These three are the most popular:
a. If a set of two or more books are bought, I can tie them together with binder twine (used on hay bales) or ribbon and bow at Christmas time and include a free bookmark and a tiny plastic horse party favor tied onto the front of the set. I also void the state tax (which I cover).

b. If a set is bought, I’ll include a gift like a 3″ horse model, a calendar with all horse pictures, or koozies with “KEYSTONE STABLES” and a horse emblem embedded on it.

c. If any four books are purchased, the fifth one is free.

3. Buy ad space in magazines. This venue I’ve used very little except in local craft fair booklets or regional homeschool ad books. I can handle $25 or $50 per quarter of a page, but horse lovers’ magazines? Writers’ magazines? Farm or ranch magazines? Kids’ magazines? They start at $300 per quarter page, $1200 for a full page, which is far beyond what my budget can afford, so I stick with the “small stuff.”

So there you have it. Decide how much money you want to invest in making money and get busy.

Next time, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of self publishing.
Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Seven

I’ve had several writers ask me about “local” marketing and what are some effective methods to use to promote yourself and your book(s) locally.

Of course, marketing this way involves a lot of bucks, legwork, phone calls, and time that you’d rather spend on writing. Nevertheless, to get your name out there, here are a few suggestions that have worked for me:

1. As soon as your book is released, contact all the local newspapers. Newspapers are usually VERY eager to write an article about local authors and their books. When the first two books in my Keystone Stables series came out, the local newspaper sent a reporter AND a photographer to my home and did a nice lengthy article about me. After that interview, the reporter joined our local critique group!
After my other books came out, I’ve written my own articles and have provided my own photograph every time I had a new book released. I found out who did that genre of reporting for the newspaper and submitted the press release via email to that person with these words typed at the top of the page:
READY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The paper has always printed within days the article I sent them almost word for word.

2. Unfortunately, it takes money to make money. Although I don’t have “money” in that sense of the word, I’ve spent quite a lot buying my own books (which you have to do whether you self publish or royalty publish) and giving them away to promote myself. I’ve given books to:
a. All local libraries – WITHOUT autographing the books. A librarian told me once not to sign the books because they’d be stolen because of the autograph.
b. Leaders of churches, clubs, or organizations that would like your book. I give my prayer Bible study guide to every missionary wife who visits our church. Talk about worldwide exposure!
c. Give books to your target clientele. When a new family visits our church, the children get a free book from me. I also usually carry a book with me when I go to a restaurant or grocery store. If I see a kid who’s in my target age group, I introduce myself, give the adult my business card, and give the child the book. (Yes, it hurts the pocketbook, but often the family buys more of my books because the kids love the ones I give them.)

So, there are a few ideas to get you going locally with your book marketing. In the next post, I’ll continue with a few more ideas. Keep on writing, and keep on trucking!

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Six

Before I took a social networking class to learn how to start and manage blogsites and “connect” to promote my books, I spent little time online trying to market my books.  My royalty publishing companies did most of the work, which included posting my books on Amazon and getting the books reviewed. So, I took quite a long time to make some plans of my own to get the word out.

One thing I did that proved to be very successful was contact Choice Books, the Christian book distributor that is responsible for placing Christian books in all Wal-Marts, hospital gift shops, truck stops, and other similar places of business in much of the northeastern USA. Choice Books picked up my books for over a year, and that attributes a LOT to the 250,000 sales of this series.

A little background on how this all happened: When my first two Keystone Stables books were released, I naively went to our local Wal-Mart and asked to speak to the manager. Of course, I had this big spiel ready to try to convince him to place my books on his shelf. What I was expecting was for him to tell me that I had to contact the store’s headquarters in Arkansas. Remember, I said I was naive?

He told me that Wal-Mart is not responsible for placing any books on their shelves. That decision is made by the distributors, the Christian books done by Choice Books. Okay, I got it and left red-faced.

I went home, went to Choice Books website, and emailed the company, telling them about my books.(Unfortunately, Choice Books no longer accepts proposals from authors. Rather, the publishing company must approach Choice Books.)

Well, miracle of miracles, shortly thereafter, I started to see my books on the shelves of Wal-Marts and gift shops up and down the northeast coast. How did I know the books were in more than our local Wal-Marts? Friends and relatives were telling me they saw them on the shelves.

Wal-Mart carried my books for a little over a year, which thrilled me and helped make the first one a best seller. Every time I went to any Wal-Mart anywhere, I hunted out my books, autographed them, and placed an “AUTOGRAPHED COPY” sticker on the front of each one. Ask me if that was exciting. You bet cha!

I did some research and found that in K-Mart and some large stores in other parts of the country, a company named Anderson does the Christian book distribution. I also contacted that distributor, but to no avail. They never returned my email, snail mail letter, or phone call.

But I am pleased to say that one email to Choice Books helped get my books a place on some frequently visited shelves for over a year, and for that I am quite grateful.

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Five

Marketing your book(s) can be a very expensive endeavor, especially hard copy printing of advertisements and promotion.One way you can save bigtime is to buy some quality cardstock and design your own “paper trail” using a desktop graphics and print shop program. I’ve designed and used all of the following:
1. Flyers/posters to hand to book store managers. If you’re fortunate enough that the store carries your books, the manager is usually willing to display your attractive posters somewhere in the store.
2. Brochures to have on your table when you do book signings or speaking engagements or to mail to prospective fans. Make sure the brochure has your name, address, phone number, and email address on it.
3. Order forms: I include an order form in my brochure, which features all the books’ covers with a short blurb about each one.
4. Business cards to “scatter abroad.” (I’ve already discussed in a previous Marketing Post  how to use business cards effectively both directly and indirectly such as leaving a card with your tip at a restaurant and/or including a card with a paid bill if you still pay the bill with a check via snailmail.)
5. Your own letterhead for stationery that features you as an author and, maybe, a graphic of your book cover.

All these “paper” marketing ideas require little time and a lot of creativity to produce attractive “ads” to promote you and your book.

So, jump on the self-publishing band wagon and get your name in print in all these different venues. You’ll be surprised how effective this type of campaign can be.

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Four

A Word About Mass Mailings

I’ve tried two different kinds of mass mailings, both with little or no results. They both cost some bucks, which, of course, was a chance I took and proved to be ineffective for me:

1. I purchased a Christian school directory that has hundreds of addresses of most of the Christian schools in the U.S.A. I bought 100 copies of book one, A HORSE TO LOVE, in my Keystone Stables Series, selected the schools with the largest enrollment, and sent them a free book with information on an insert to order more.
I received one thank-you letter from a school in California but not one order from any schools. Whether the schools went online to Zondervan or Amazon to order more of my books, I’ll never know.

2. I designed my own attractive flyer with all my books listed with their covers in color and a description of the book, a price listing, and an easy-to-use order form. I sent about 50 of them to libraries, book stores, and “horsie” places like summer camps for kids. The result! One order.

My advice to you about mass mailings? Don’t bother. You’ll make better use of your money going to Starbucks for a cappuccino!
************************************

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Four

We’ve been addressing the issue of local marketing of one’s book. Another idea for local marketing, or not so local marketing, which does involve legwork, is getting your book into book stores or stores that would be interested in your book. (Remember I said that horse gear and saddle shops would be interested in mine?) What’s the best way to do that?

Hit the beaten path.

When my first two Keystone Stables books came out, I spent quite a bit of time visiting every book store within a fifty-mile radius, both Christian and secular, along with any tack shops that sold horse equipment and “horsie” stuff. Unfortunately, book stores are becoming a rarity over the past few years. Look HARD!

Since Zondervan is one of the leading Christian publishing companies in the world, I knew its products would be listed in the bookstore’s data base, so I had a big advantage there. I didn’t have to convince the manager to take a chance on the Keystone Stables books as I have had to do so with some of my self published books. (By the way, make sure if you self publish, you get an ISBN number on the back of the book or no store will be able to sell it.)

When entering the store, I always went to the children’s department to see if my books were on the shelf. About 70% of the time they were not. Then I asked to see the manager. I introduced myself, gave him a business card, showed him my books, and asked if he would consider carrying them on his shelves. Right now I can’t think of any manager who ever said no. Most managers said something like this: “Horse stories? Kids love horse stories. Why haven’t I heard about these books before?”

The sad truth is that even with Zondervan publishing my books, their sales reps do NOT place copies of all their newly published books on the shelves. The salesmen promote the company’s best-selling authors, not a greenhorn like I was way back then when my books first came out. Sometimes the store had large sections of Zonderkidz products, but my books were not among them.

Once in a rare while, I WOULD find some copies of my books on the store’s shelf. As a published author, I felt a sense of joy and pride seeing my name on a book cover in a book store. I immediately took all the copies to the cashier, told him/her who I was (with a business card validating it, of course), and offered to autograph the books. Most clerks were thrilled to meet a “real, live author.”

I always left by offering the manager or the clerk some flyers (that I had made) to post in the store about my books, and I always offered to do a book signing and asked for one of the store’s business cards with the contact information.

Earlier I had mentioned “not so local” marketing that might involve some more legwork.

What do I mean about “not so local?” How about vacations?

The same year my books came out, my husband and I drove to South Carolina to visit our one foster daughter. All the way on the trip, we pulled off the Interstate when we saw a mall off to the side, assuming that every mall usually has some kind of bookstore. I also did a search online to see if any bookstores were near the route we would be traveling.

When we got to Charleston, SC, my daughter took me to every library and bookstore within a 30-mile radius. The libraries were given a free copy, and the bookstores found out about this brand-new kids’ books, the Keystone Stables series.

This plan didn’t take that much extra money, but it did take some time. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think my husband read about three books in the car while I ran in and out of bookstores on our trek.

I know it only seems like a drop in the bucket when you consider the entire country, but, at least, I got my foot in the door as far as spreading the word.

Next time, we’ll discuss mass mailings. Are they worth it?

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writers Tips)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Writers Conference Information)
http://www.montrosebible.org
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Three: A Few Online Tips

Social networking and selling online seem to be the way to go these days with marketing books.

Of course, there is physical legwork to do as far as book signings, speaking engagements, and vendors’ affairs to get your name out there, but the world’s markets have opened up online exponentially in the last few years, and it would be very wise to pursue that venue of promotion. The Internet and its effects on our society has grown so monumentously, they can no longer be ignored.

Any author who is serious enough to write a book should be serious enough to learn how to use the Internet most effectively. Here are some quick suggestions, some easy, some not so easy, to accomplish. But you might increase your presence online and with your fan base if you work on these marketing strategies:

1. Look for online book reviewers. Many book reviewers will do a review gratis if you provide a free copy of your book. I’ve had some of my Keystone Stables books reviewed by:
a. the NEA (National Education Association)
b. the Young Hoosier Book Award Program (www.ilfonline.org)
c. Barbara Fielding (www.reviewers-choice.com)
d. www.wordsmithshoppe.com among others. All gave favorable reviews.

2. When your book is on Amazon’s sales’ racks, have some friends post favorable reviews for you on that site.

3. Take a social networking class (as I am presently doing) to learn how to integrate and interact sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, StumbleUpon, and so on with your website and blogsite(s).

The more your name pops up on the Internet, the more books you’ll sell. It only makes sense that exposure is the key to good sales. Learn how to have a presence there, and you’re on your way to being a best seller.

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahublerauthor.com
(Writing Blog)
http://www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Horse Facts Blog)
http://www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com

On Writing: Marketing Post Number Two

I’d like to share with you some simple, inexpensive ways to market books that have proved somewhat successful for me. I must have done something right because the first book in my juvenile fiction Keystone Stables Series, A HORSE TO LOVE, is a best seller. In juvenile fiction, 20,000 copies is the goal to attain if you want to be a best seller. In adult fiction, the magic number is 100,000.

Counting all eight Keystone Stables books, there are over 250,000 sold. To all my fans, I say a heartfelt thank you.

How did this happen? Well, besides Zondervan doing some marketing in catalogs and online, let’s discuss one marketing technique that I use that really doesn’t require much legwork nor the Internet:

Buy some desktop publishing supplies like business card stock and a graphics program like The Print Shop. (Your computer might already have a program installed).

Design your own business card. Make sure you put your website AND your blogsite on that card as well as your phone number. Add an attractive graphic, like the cover of your book or your own portrait shot, and print your own business cards.

Now, what do you do with all these dozens and dozens of business cards (besides handing them out to everyone you know in church or at the club?

1. Christmas is a great time of the year to start this marketing plan. Christmas means Christmas cards! Put a business card in every Christmas card you send.
2. Put a business card in all the bills you pay through the mail. (All the time, not just at Christmas)
3. Put a business card with every tip you leave at a restaurant.
4. If your books are sold in any stores, ask the store manager if you can place some business cards at the check-out counter, or sometimes the store will have a community bulletin board where you can post some cards.
5. Of course, when you are selling your books at book signings or at vending affairs, a nice pile of cards should be on your table for folks to take at will.

Short of dropping thousands of these little advertisements out of a plane flying over a football stadium, you can explore other ways to get your name out there using business cards. It’s an inexpensive but effective way to let folks know that you’ve arrived as an author!

Marsha Hubler
Best-selling Author of the Keystone Stables books
(Web) www.marshahubler.com
(Writing Blog)
www.marshahubler.wordpress.com
(Horse Facts Blog)
www.horsefactsbymarshahubler.wordpress.com