Author Smarts … How to Sell to Libraries
This week celebrates National Library Week. For authors, libraries can be your best friend. With over 100,000 throughout the country, their budgets still purchase approximately $2,000,000,000 in books each year—two billion dollars! That’s what the American Library Association and the Book Industry Study Group report.
So … the question is … are you getting your share?
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Befriend your local library and librarian. Let them know about your book.
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Offer to do a program—especially if you are a children’s author. Many libraries have author programs and are enthusiastic in working and featuring authors—stick your neck out. And if you get invited, make sure you encourage others to come. Bodies count!
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Ask for testimonials and endorsements.
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Make sure you share reviews and any media clippings with your librarian … the one you befriended!
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Donate a book to the library—it just may be the thing that generates a purchase order.
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Encourage your followers to contact their libraries to request your
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Social Media for Authors: Where Do You Start?
Social Media is going to be the primary tool to move your book forward.
If you are still resistant, three words for you: Get Over It! With that said, experiment-which of the key platforms—LinkedIn Groups, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Blog, YouTube—will work best to get your toe in the water? In most cases, I’m going to tell you to do them all, but concentrate on one of two. Download Hootsuite or SocialOomph to keep your sanity to manage them … and to manage forward.
A Blog is a must do—you’ve written a book; you’ve got scads of material. Copy/paste, copy/paste. Create a short intro and exit. Start posting. Remember the 3 Cs-Content, Consistent, Commit. Start with once a week; pick a day; do it. Next, start doing short videos—hello cello phone. Create a Video Blog for variety. Little …
Top 10 Tweets from The Book Shepherd
Have you heard? Author U is going BANANAS over APE! Everyone who attends the Author U Extravaganza will get a copy of Guy Kawasaki’s APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur. With over 1.2 million Twitter followers, 4 million Google+ connections, multiple NY Times best-sellers, former Chief Evangelist for Apple Computer, Guy knows marketing, branding, books and authors … and he’s the Friday, May 3rd Keynoter. And he didn’t publish APE via New York. Saturday’s Keynote will be delivered by Cevin Bryerman, Publisher of Publishers Weekly—he’s allotting plenty of Q&A time.
The Book Shepherd says, “If you want to be seriously successful as an author, get yourself to Denver, Colorado May 2-4 this year. The only excuse is death or dismemberment.”
ALERT: Author U Extravaganza Early Bird at AuthorU.org ends soon. What are you waiting for? See my remarks above. Details of all speakers, times are now posted on Author U’s website. Full agenda, including the Thursday Eagle (Advanced) and Eaglet …
Building Your “Crowd” … One Tweet at a Time

Twitter has emerged as a major force in marketing an author’s book.
Are you interested in building your following FAST. Here’s a great resource that is inexpensive and very, very efficient. Meet Tweet Adder, the Ferrari of Twitter Marketing Software.
Tweet Adder will automate multiple areas of your Twitter account, such as following and un-following users (if someone doesn’t follow you back after so many days, Tweet Adder unfollows them), sending Tweets, re-tweeting and much more. A plus is that you can have several Twitter accounts.
Advantages of using Tweet Adder:
1. You are able to operate several accounts at one time in the background. You’ll be able to setup 10, 20 or more accounts and operate all the essential duties for those accounts.
2. You don’t need to watch the software every day. Simply turn on your computer each morning and it’ll work all day long carrying out the tasks.
3. The configurations are wonderful. You are …
Will You Book Be Honored … or Rejected?
Submissions for Book Awards are open. Will the author be honored for their words and book? Or will they get the Book Boot? The question every author needs to ask is, “Did I do the best job in writing, in presenting, in connecting with my crowd—the people who need, want my words?” In other words, “Did I rush to publish?””Will it be rejected?”
Working with authors every day, there are routine hiccups that are all too common. When they are pointed out, they are often surprised that they didn’t notice them—both pre-layout and during layout. To anyone who is experienced with books, those hiccups are glaring and would have been noticed quickly.
What’s that mean? Simply this: don’t go it alone. Before you enter your book, make sure it’s of “star” quality.
The Book Boot Starts Here … on the Outside
The title doesn’t work. The reader is clueless as to what the book is about. Does it solve a problem? …
Once You’ve Got Your Book … What’s Next?
… Speak About and Market It, Of Course!
When the book deliver euphoria wears off, every author has the gaze in the belly button moment … what do I do next?
Two quick responses:
1 Market, Market, Market. Eighty percent of your time will now be directed to this single word.
2 Speak, Speak, Speak. You will enjoy the reprints, not to mention the book sales.

I am a firm believer that speaking is one of the best ways to move a book—when you connect with an audience, they want to take you home with them. Your book may be the best thing and the least expensive. They are impulse buys—meaning you need them onsite. You must take credit cards. My personal record was speaking at a conference in Utah for 60 minutes. In 5 hours, over $16,000 in book sales happened (560 books to audience of 800) … one book at a time.
Knowing …
The Book Shepherd’s Top 10 Twitter Tweets for Week ending October 12th
Here’s your Top Ten Tweets for the past week—Chirp!
Tweets are faster than a speeding bird … below are The Book Shepherd’s Top Ten Tweets from the past week that you may have missed …
Success & Resources
Author Alert: Got a YA manuscript? Poisoned Pen Press seeks submissions http://t.co/4rBqnJzo
Why You Should Self-Publish FIRST: video w/ Literary Agent Michael Larsen http://t.co/2dRIlR7d
Book awards … which one is for you? http://ow.ly/e6uq0
Writing Smarts
Writer alert: 6 Copywriting Mistakes That Shatter Conversion Rates http://t.co/2VsoDtPC
Social Media and Marketing Strategies
Savvy author marketing tip: How to write an SEO press release that won’t get rejected. http://ow.ly/e6jNY
A 99-cent sale on Amazon helped propel one author to the top of Self Published Bestsellers List: http://t.co/Ed9VWDD7
Wondering why your FB reach is decreasing this will explain why. http://ow.ly/e66PA
What do you think? The Social Era Is More Than Social Media http://ow.ly/e6gtt
5 clever PR pitches that caught reporters’ attention from the publicity hound, Joan …
The ABCs of Publishing Terminology Today
Are you confused in which way to publish today? And for that matter, what are the publishing options? Join the club! Traditional publishing, self-publishing and independent publishing are tossed in the air with the flick of the tongue. Just what are they? Authors feel like they are going bonkers with the choices, that unfortunately, lead to plenty of disillusionment.
Traditional publishing is the easiest to get … and digest. The biggies in the field today are: Simon & Schuster, Wiley, Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin, Random House and Macmillian. They acquire authors and manuscripts. They promise to publish your book, do some editing, cover and interior design, print it and maybe, maybe some publicity and marketing. In return, you may get an advance—which means they give you up-front money that is an advance payment against/toward future royalties. The good news is that if the book doesn’t do so well, you keep the money. The bad news, it’s not …






































