“I’m not in a good mood today,” I told my husband. “After all the hours and hours I spent on this book I don’t know what I will do if it is rejected.”

“You’re experiencing anticipatory grief,” he relied. Thank goodness I married a brilliant man! Though I have written dozens of articles about anticipatory grief and co-authored a book about it, I did not connect the feeling to writing. Maybe you have just submitted a manuscript to a publisher. How can you prepare for rejection?

The Writers Conference Guidelines website has posted an article about reasons behind rejection, “Dealing with Rejection and Moving On.” The first reason — your manuscript is not a good fit for the publisher. Before you submit a manuscript you should learn more about the company and its speciality, if one exists.

Your timing may be off. The publisher may have already published a similar book and yours would be a duplicate. Then too, your topic may be too narrow or too broad. There may be spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in your manuscript. All are red flags for an acquisitions editor.

“The takeaway value may be weak,” the article points out. In other words, a potential customer may not be willing to spend money on your book. “Do not use a rejection letter as a reason to whine, complain, or not to write,” the article advises. Instead, use it as motivation to improve your work.

Freelancer Moira K. Wiley’s article, “Dealing with Rejection,” which is on the Writers Research Groups website, contains more tips. Rejection is the hardest part of writing, according to Wiley, but it does not mean your career has ended. If you receive a printed letter with handwritten comments, she thinks you have received a “good rejection.” The editor has read your manuscript and taken the time to give you tips on improving it.

Vickie Britton shares her “Tips for Writers on Coping with Rejection Slips from Publishers,” on the Writing Novels blog. Many famous authors, including J. K. Rowling, have been rejected over and over again. So you have to hang in there. “If the editor recommends a rewrite,” Britton says, “this is a calling card to try again.”

Ellen Jackson, an award-winning children’s author, tells how to survive rejection in “Dealing with Rejection,” posted on her personal website. “You have to find a way to believe in yourself,” she advises, “even if others don’t.” During my 30+ years in the writing business I have been rejected many times and learned to prepare for them.

What do I do? First, I let myself grieve, but only for a short time. I put the manuscript away for several months and revisit it later. Research is the backbone of a non-fiction writer’s life and, in order not to waste this research, I use it in articles. Of course, I am always brainstorming on my next book. I just started a new self-help book and am excited about it. Rejections are less painful when you are prepared for them.

Copyright 2010 by Harriet Hodgson

About the author: Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for decades. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of Health Care Journlaists, and Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD is available from Amazon.

Centering Corporation has published her 26th book, “Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life” and a companion journal with 100 writing jump-starts. Hodgson is a monthly columnist for the new “Caregiving in America” magazine, which resumes publication in August. She is also a contributing writer for the Open to Hope Foundation website. Please visit Harriet’s website and learn more about this busy author and grandmother.

www.harriethodgson.com

Courtesy: www.ezinearticles.com

by Marsha Friedman

Many new authors think the answer is either “when the book is done” or “doesn’t the publisher take care of that?”

But unless you are a Glenn Beck or Dan Brown, both of those responses are dead wrong.

The right answer is before you start to write your book! Before you type the first word, it is critical that you think about the project in its entirety – including a plan for marketing and promotion and a budget as well. Here are a few questions you want to ask yourself in this process:

What do I want to accomplish with my book?

Is it a marketing vehicle to build your credibility and grow your business? Or perhaps it’s a novel you’re hoping will turn into a series, with fans begging for the next installment. Your answers to this fundamental question affect not only what you write, and how you write it, but what kind of promotional effort makes sense for your book.

Who do I want to reach with my message?

Know your audience. Are they teens, men, women, baby boomers or seniors? If you’ve identified who you are writing to, it will help hone your writing style and your message. But, it will also affect to a very large degree how you go about promoting your book and the marketing opportunities available for reaching your audience. For example, an effective digital promotional strategy that reaches busy young people will not necessarily hit the mark with seniors who are less likely to get their information from the Internet or mobile phones.

What title and cover design will get book buyers interested in what I have to say?

The title of your book can play a key role in the promotion and sales of your book. And, with limited space available for the precise words that will effectively communicate how dynamic and interesting your book is, you can see how important that title can be. There’s also the actual design of the book cover to consider which can either forward your key message, or make it seem as dull as dishwater. My point is that an impactful title with a very creative cover plays an important role in the marketing of your book, but this is an expense you must calculate into your marketing and promotional budget. Speaking of budget – this leads me to the last point which is without a doubt, one of the most important points.

What kind of a budget do I need for the entire project?

Regardless of whether your book will be self-published, or you’ve attracted the interest of a major publisher, a budget for marketing and promotion is an absolute must. And an effective book marketing campaign isn’t necessarily cheap, particularly if you’re going to hire a professional firm to execute a solid campaign. But, if you choose to do the promotion yourself, there are still expenses involved that you need to factor into your budget, not the least of which may be hiring someone in-house to assist you, either with your book promotion or your normal everyday work that will pile up because of the book promotion!

There is a reason I am hitting this point so hard. It’s because of the countless emails and calls I get from authors who didn’t really understand this would be necessary, and who are now sitting with great books in a warehouse or boxed up in their garage. I feel bad, but there’s nothing to compare with how frustrated or disappointed they feel after all the hard work, time and passion they’ve invested in the whole process.

I’m reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” It may be catchy, but it’s simply not true. Here’s the truth: the only way the world will beat a path to your door – or to bookstores, your website or listing on Amazon.com – is if consumers even know your book exists…and that means a great deal of marketing and promotion.

Instead of explaining about the books in the garage to the grandkids, wouldn’t it make a much better story to tell them how you became a successful writer?

About the author: For 20 years Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on public relations as CEO of EMSI, a national public relations firm. Her firm represents corporations and experts in a wide array of fields such as business, health, food, lifestyle, politics, finance, law, sports and entertainment. Some of the more prominent names on her client roster are Teamster’s President Jimmy Hoffa Jr., Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane and the famous Motown Group, the Temptations.

She consults individuals and businesses on a daily basis and is frequently asked to speak at conferences about how to harness the power of publicity. Go to www.emsincorporated.com to signup for Marsha Friedman’s free weekly PR Tips today! More resources for authors can also be found at www.publicitythatworks.com. Or call 727-443-7115, ext. 202, or email her at info@marshafriedman.com.

Courtesy: www.ezinearticles.com

by Harriet Hodgson

One thing I have learned in my 30+ years as a writer is to be professional. An unprofessional author-publisher relationship can sabotage your career and a professional one can make it surge. Being professional includes how you act with executives, administrative assistants, marketing folks, editors, and even shipping staff.

A nonfiction writer, I try to help editors as much as possible by including headings, leaving wide margins for notes, indexing the book, being careful about attributions, and not complaining about revisions. These actions have helped me to develop good working relationship with a variety of publishers and editors.

“You want to create relationships that will last the duration of our career,” explains the Professional Resumes website, and I have tried to do this. When I look back at my career I think I have been professional 99 percent of the time. But I must admit that sometimes I am hard on myself, and wonder if I have offended someone. Thankfully, this lasts only a few minutes.

How would you describe your author-publisher relationship? You may pick up on conversational nuances, for example, or miss them. Even better, you may be an author who really listens. Like me, you may try to help your publisher as much as possible. Professionalism usually gets good results, but not always.

Years ago I lost a book sale because I was professional. It was a sticky situation, one that I prefer not to go into now, but suffice to say I was forced to hire a lawyer. Though the case was resolved and I lost the same, I am still enthusiastic about the book and hope to sell it some day.

Kevin Eikenberry describes the elements of a professional relationship on his website. In the article, “Seven Ways to Nurture Professional Relationships,” he says all work is relationship business. “Having stronger relationships creates less stress, promotes high productivity, improves speed and efficiency and helps our work in almost every measurable way,” he notes.

What are the puzzle pieces of this relationship? According to Eikenberry, a professional relationship is your top priority, shows caring, helps you make connections, develops trust, sets standards, aids listening, and fosters leadership. Indeed, the time you spend on your professional relationship “will create lasting benefits for everyone.”

These last few weeks I have been evaluating my professional author-publisher relationship. Since I had already discussed my idea with the company I did not submit a book proposal. Instead, I sent the executive director email updates and suggestions for saving on printing costs based on my art degree. I included suggestions for bulk sales as well. The publisher has not made a decision yet, but seems enthusiastic.

Newbie or experienced writer, it is a good idea to evaluate your professionalism from time to time. As you do this, remember the people who have helped you along the way and those you are about to meet. According to the Professional Resumes website, “The most important adage when it comes to relationships is ‘As you give, so shall you receive.”‘

Copyright 2010 by Harriet Hodgson

About the author: Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for decades. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of Health Care Journlaists, and Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD is available from Amazon.

Centering Corporation has published her 26th book, “Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life” and a companion journal with 100 writing jump-starts. Hodgson is a monthly columnist for the new “Caregiving in America” magazine, which resumes publication in August. She is also a contributing writer for the Open to Hope Foundation website. Please visit Harriet’s website and learn more about this busy author and grandmother.

http://www.harriethodgson.com

Courtesy: www.ezinearticles.com

By Harriet Hodgson

Last week I received an email from someone who had read an article of mine. She writes poetry and her goal is to be a published author. In preparation for the meeting, I printed out an article from the Internet and compiled this list. Our meeting went well and she identified the tips she was going to work on first.

1. Write ezine articles

This is one of the best ways to get published and garner publicty. Authors write the articles for free and anyone may publish them for free (electronic and print) as long as they follow the publishing guidelines.

2. Write for online support groups

Many groups and foundations offer reliable support. Find one that matches your interests and write for it. You may choose to write for several groups.

3. Submit work to magazines

Many journals and magazines do not pay for submissions and your “pay” is the publicity you receve. This writing helps you garner name recognition and often leads to additional work.

The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual

This will help you to sharpen your skills and garner more name recognition. If you are adventurous, you may offer to edit the newsletter.

5. Join a writing group

Learn about the group before you join. Log onto the website and talk with some of the members. Make sure your writing is a match for the group.

6. Join a specialized group

Specialized groups understand your work, provide customized tips, resources, and conferences. Think of the dues as an investment in yourself.

7. Invest in writing resources

I have found the “Associated Press Style Book and Libel Manual” to be extremely helpful. “Writer’s Digest” books have helped me as well. Over the years, I have put together a small library of writing resources and use them all the time.

8. Learn how to write a query letter

Many books offer tips on this skill. Good query letters take lots of time and practice. Personally, I do not think a query letter should be longer than one page.

9. Learn how to write a book proposal

This skill also takes time and practice. Your proposal should be concise, neat, and meet the submission guidelines.

10. Beef up your resume

If you have not written a resume before, find out how to do it. Stick to the facts and leave out the hype. Revise your resume regularly to see the progress you have made.

11. Learn about potential publishers

Before you send anything to a potential publisher, learn about the books they publish, best sellers, and any awards they have received. Keep a file folder on all of your submissions, when you made them, and the responses you received.

12. Challenge yourself

Keep a running list of article and book ideas. Pick a promising idea and start working on it.

Breaking into the publishing business is not easy, especially in this economy. A logical, organized approach may tilt the publishing odds in your favor.

Copyright 2010 by Harriet Hodgson

www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for decades. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of Health Care Journalists, and Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from Amazon.

Centering Corporation has published her 26th book, “Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life” and a companion journal with 100 writing prompts. Hodgson is a monthly columnist for “Caregiving in America” magazine. Please visit her website and learn more about this busy author and grandmother.

Courtesy: www.ezinearticles.com

By Donald E. McCauley

Depending on the source you believe, somewhere around 500,000 new books hit the shelves this year.

What does this mean?

If each book was but an inch thick, and all the books were placed on a single shelf, that shelf would be over 7.8 MILES long. Your book is but one of them. This does not take into consideration all the books out there already. That’s just this past year.

Walk outside tonight. Count every star you can see in the sky. Write down the total number of stars you can see, then take that number times a factor of 200,000. The resulting number is the number of sites competing for your potential buyer’s attention. This number varies widely depending on the source and nobody knows for certain, but it’s somewhere around 400,000,000 sites. That’s 400 million. (Again there is a lot of argument on this point)

We must remember that many of the competing books out there have big money and big marketing and publicity machines backing them up, while many of the competing sites have SEO experts at the helm with huge budgets and years of education, knowledge and experience. Such is your competition.

The mar­ket is not a thing – the mar­ket is an event and it is an event that changes and morphs and moves and be­comes some­thing dif­fer­ent ev­ery sin­gle day. You must not on­ly keep up with these changes, you must stay ahead of them or be left in the dust.

Sadly, authors who initially hoped they would become more famous are more likely simply becoming more invisible.

This year, if you are serious about your book, you should perhaps get really serious about marketing.

Putting up a nice website, writing a blog, twittering and facebooking, doing a book trailer or a press release and the like, while commendable, are not really going to set you apart, as nearly every single one of those 500,000 authors and companies and 400 million owners of those sites are doing this also. Everybody is doing this. So, what will work?

Developing a laser sharp marketing strategy and marketing plan that will set you apart and create real awareness for you and your book will work. If you are but playing at marketing, you must begin to really work at marketing your book. It is perhaps not necessary to work harder. It is always advisable to work smarter.

What does developing a real book marketing strategic plan involve?

* Developing tightly focused buyer profiles
* Formulating laser sharp branding strategies
* Developing traditional and non-traditional publicity strategies
* Writing keyword optimized, profile specific marketing copy
* Developing an effective media strategy
* Developing a keyword strategy specific to your niche profiles
* Implementing a website optimization strategy for the visitor
* Search engine optimization for the search engines
* Developing effective targeted optimized blogging strategies
* Developing effective social media marketing strategies
* Learning to develop inbound marketing strategies with outbound strategies

Many of these are Internet strategies. Over 70% of your potential buyers now consider the Internet to be not just A choice, but THE FIRST choice when making purchasing decisions. And the points above are but starting points. The strategy must be implemented and you must work that strategy every day. You will need to adjust that strategy as market conditions change, new opportunities are presented and ideas once good become not so good.

Nobody writes a book to become a marketer. People write books because they want to be an author.

However, the term “author” now encompasses the term “marketer.’” If you do not get serious about marketing, you will be an unknown author.

It is the year 2010. The marketing methods used in the past decade will not work well in this environment.

The market is not a thing – the market is an event and it is an event that changes and morphs and moves and becomes something different every single day. You must not only keep up with these changes, you must stay ahead of them or be left in the dust.

Are you ready to go for it? If so, make a resolution in 2010 to get really serious about marketing.

About the author: Don McCauley is a marketing strategist with over 30 years of experience. He helps individuals, small businesses and professionals create low cost publicity and marketing campaigns to increase sales. He demonstrates how anyone can develop a massive marketing and publicity campaign for little or no money by utilizing cutting edge strategic marketing and publicity resources. The goal is always to produce bottom line results. More information is available at www.freepublicitygroup.com. He can be reached by email at
don@freepublicitygroup.com

Courtesy: www.ezineArticles.com

Many new authors are mystified about how in the world to get their books into a bookstore.

While is it fairly easy to list your book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online, getting your book into a physical bookstore is very difficult for a new, self-published author.

According to Eric Kampmann, principal of MidPoint Trade Books, large bookstore chains are not interested in dealing with self-publishers or even small independent publishers. They are reluctant because they are not sure that the books will be of high quality with a professional cover and great editing, and it is too time consuming for them to deal with small orders.

That’s when a book distributor comes in.

A book distributor is the intermediary between the publisher and store buyers. Distributors put books in catalogs and send sales staff to pitch books to buyers. They are experts in wholesale book marketing and moving books into stores from warehouses. They also negotiate contacts with stores for special sales, front of store displays, and any type of special promotion for books.

There are different kinds of distributors. If you print your book with Lightning Source, as I do, Ingram Distribution will automatically distribute your book. This is good. However, Ingram has a very large catalog so your book will probably not get too much attention from their sales staff unless you are appearing on Oprah.

Other distributors are smaller and take a more personal approach. MidPoint Trade Books, for example, only agrees to distribute a book after a very rigorous screening process. If a book passes muster, the sales staff will enthusiastically represent it.

Most distributors start working with a publisher 6-12 months before the book is printed. However, distributors will also evaluate books that have been launched if they have sold 300-400 copies on Amazon in the first three months after release. Those Amazon sales figures show that the book can generate sales so a distributor would be interested in pitching it to bookstores.

If you want to sell your books in bookstores, take these steps:

• Make sure you invest in a very professional cover, great editing, and professional layout. Your book has to look first rate and be first rate.
• Start to research distributors before you publish your book. The dates of publication are very important to bookstores sales and you will need a distributor to help you time the launch of your book in the most advantageous way.
• Be willing to pay. Book distributors do a lot of work on your behalf and deserve to be compensated well. Anticipate paying a distribution fee of at least 30% and maybe more.
• Listen and learn. You hire a book distributor for expertise in selling books. They are your partners in the success of your book so if your distributor makes a suggestion for a revised cover, additional editing, or other changes, you would be wise to accept those suggestions.

If this whole idea scares you, give up on the idea of having your book in bookstores and concentrate your efforts on selling it on your own website and on Amazon/Barnes and Nobles.

Putting books in bookstores is not for everyone. However, if it is your dream, you now have some additional knowledge that will help you make that dream come true.

About the author: Lynne Klippel is a publisher, author and book shepherd who specializes in helping authors write business building books. Want to create a successful book? Discover 8 book marketing blunders that you can avoid. Grab your free ecourse at www.BookMarketingBlitz.com

Courtesy: www.bluegrasssolutions.info

By Lynne Klippel

Many authors struggle when pricing their books. On one hand, you are providing extremely valuable information to your readers. On the other hand, books have a perceived value that is less than a coaching session or a live event.

For many of you, pricing will not be an issue. You will work with a publisher who will determine the price of your book for you. However, if you decide to self-publish your book, or work with a publisher who allows you to set your price, you may find yourself in a quandary over the pricing of your book.

Proceed cautiously. There are many important factors to consider when pricing your book. I know an author who wanted to make her book very attractive to buyers. She set her price so low that she lost money on each book sale. Other authors repel sales by pricing their book too high. Pricing requires a delicate balance.

Consider these things before you set your price:

1. How much does it cost to produce your book?

There are many hard costs associated with producing a book. You should know the price of the printing as well as how much you’ve spent for editing, cover design, and marketing. Then estimate how many books you will sell in the first six months after your book launch. Divide all the production costs by the number of books you plan to sell. That will give you a rough breakdown of the hard costs for each book.

2. Remember that bookstores and other wholesale outlets will buy your book at 50-60% of the cover price.

Set your cover price high enough that your hard costs are covered at the 50% wholesale price with a bit of profit built in.

3. Determine the pricing of similar books.

Amazon.com will give you excellent information. Look for the high and low prices on similar books on Amazon. Note the retail price, not the discounted price on Amazon. The Amazon discount may change daily as Amazon adjusts prices to sell the maximum number of books.

Depending on your genre, you will find that most non-fiction book sell from $14.95 to $29.95. Notice that most book prices end in five not a seven.

Self-help and spiritual books sell at the lower end of that range. Business books are generally on the higher end of the range.

4. Be aware that book sales depend on volume.

It is better to strive to sell many books at a small profit per book than to sell fewer books and make more per sale. Remember that your book is a marketing tool for your business so you want to sell as many copies of your book as possible.

5. Once you have a price range for your book from Amazon, set your price in the middle to upper end of the range.

If your book is too cheap, buyers will assume that it is not worthwhile.

6. Check your numbers.

Will you cover your hard costs at this price?

7. Then, practice saying, “My book sells for $xx.xx.”

Can you say that figure with confidence? If not, determine why. Adjust the price until you can say it with confidence and sincerity.

8. Finally, ask your heart.

Do you feel that this price is a fair exchange, one in which the reader gets great value in return for their money? When in doubt, err on the side of a slightly lower price. Aim for a fair price that feels like a great deal for the reader and a good deal for you.

Setting the price of your book is an art and a science. Combining the facts of hard costs and profit margins with the more heart centered feeling approach will give you the ideal price for your book.

About the author:  Lynne Klippel is a publisher, author and book shepherd who specializes in helping authors write business building books. Want to create a successful book? Discover 8 book marketing blunders that you can avoid. Grab your free e-course at www.BookMarketingBlitz.com.

Courtesy: www.bluegrasssolutions.info

By Dana Lynn Smith

Amazon book sales are very important to most authors and publishers, and there are several ways to boost your book’s visibility on Amazon.com. Customers on Amazon typically search for books by author, title, or keyword. Like search engines, Amazon uses several criteria in deciding which products to display on the search results page and in what order to display them. Popularity (the number of Amazon book sales already made) and how well the book matches the keywords are major factors in determining the results of keyword searches.

The more Amazon book sales you generate, the more books you will sell in the future, because your book will appear higher in the search results when customers search by your keywords. In addition, many customers assume that the best-selling book must be the best one on the topic.

One way to increase your Amazon book sales, and therefore your search results placement, is to direct all of your online book orders to Amazon, rather than offering several options on your website.

It’s also important to make sure your book matches popular search terms entered by customers. If your book is not yet published, you can add important keywords to the book’s title and subtitle. Some publishers use long subtitles in order to pack in as many keywords as possible.

To capitalize on searches for keywords not contained in the title, enter important keywords into Amazon’s Search Tag feature. On your book’s product page on Amazon, scroll down to the section titled “Tags Customers Associate with This Product.” Enter your keyword tag in the small box provided and click the “Add” button.

You can’t use keywords that already appear in Amazon’s search function, such as the book title or author name. Word order matters, so create different search tags with variations on your most important keywords.

You can personally submit up to ten search terms for your book. If you have additional search terms to enter, ask a colleague to enter some for you. You can also ask colleagues to “vote” for the existing tags on the page by clicking the check box next to the tags.

Another way to increase your “popularity” on Amazon is do a virtual book tour or an “Amazon best-seller campaign,” designed to push up your Amazon sales rank by generating a large number of orders on a single day.

There are a number of other ways to promote your book on Amazon, including getting lots of good Amazon reviews, writing reviews of other related books, participating in the Look Inside program, enhancing your book description, participating in Amazon forums for your book’s topic, and creating Listmania lists and So You’d Like To guides.

About the author: Dana Lynn Smith, author of the Savvy Book Marketer Guide series at www.SavvyBookMarketer.com, has a degree in marketing and 15 years of publishing experience. Her Book Marketing Maven blog www.BookMarketingMaven.com is packed with marketing tips for authors, and you’ll get a copy of her Top Book Marketing Tips ebook when you sign up for her free ezine.

Courtesy: www.ezineArticles.com

By Sally Shields

In order to leverage your authorship into a ton of free publicity, here are a few tips and tricks that can help you succeed faster, smarter and won’t break your bank. Remember, you are in it for the long haul, and your book should mainly be thought of as a tool to enhance and further your business, and to help give you more credibility as an expert in your chosen field. Okay, here we go:

1. Get a Business Card with Your Book Cover on It

You can get these made up very inexpensively, such as through Vistaprint. Use them as book marks. Give them out to friends, colleagues, potential contacts. Leave them at the bagel store, and post them on the bulletin board at your local library. Be sure to have your website/contact info on the back as well. You never know who’s going to check it out!

2. Get a website with your book’s URL

Hopefully most of you will have done this. But here’s the difference between successful authors and those that just sell a few books: get a contact form and offer your visitors an ethical bribe such as, “Sign up for Sally’s weekly newsletter, and instantly have access to download the first chapter of her book, for FREE!” Or offer them a top 10 list, or eReport. You get the idea. The main thing is to start capturing the email addresses of your adoring fans whom you can then keep in touch with and market to as you grow as an author.

3. Work on an “Elevator Pitch”

The media is busy, and they will know within 10-15 seconds weather they want to hear more or not. Having an elevator pitch that is short, succinct and to the point is an invaluable tool for pitching the media. Here are the three steps in a nutshell:

a) Your name, the name of your book, and if you can, make up a cute little name for yourself like so:

Hi, I’m Sally Shields, “The In-Law Expert” and I’ve written a book called, “The Daughter-in-Law Rules!”

b) then, tell them what your vision is, like so:

My vision is to create more harmony among mothers and daughters in law by teaching brides and wives the art of making friends with their husband’s mother.

c) Finally, tell them what problem you can solve for them, or what information you can reveal, like this:

I will reveal the top 3 things that every wife can do to create a lifetime of peace with their husband, and the OTHER woman in his life-his MOM!

4. Make sure to be signed up for HARO and look for opportunities to provide your expertise

There is nothing more powerful out there today for us authors and experts than joining HARO. National media outlets such as Fox News and Woman’s Day are all searching for that perfect expert to quote in their next segment or byline. Go there and get a free account today!

5. Prepare short 300-500 word articles, and submit them to EzineArticles.

This is a fantastic way to get your name out there on the web. An account is free. Using keywords is invaluable, but most important is the title of the article itself. Media outlets all over the web will be sending out spiders looking for content and you never know where your article might be re-posted. Make sure to sign all your articles with your name, website and contact info. www.ezinearticles.com

6. Go to Google and sign up for a Google Alert

Make sure to put in all the keywords that pertain to your book and expertise. You will get daily alerts on stories that are being written and talked about. Then, you can be prepared to pitch the media and let them know you are the go-to person and perhaps they will use you as a source. Begin to develop a media contact database.

7. Get a BLOG for FREE!

It doesn’t have to be pretty, but go to blogger.com and set up an account, for free. Folks, if I can do it you can too! But if it seems complicated, grab your 10 year old kid and they can help you. The great thing about blogs is that the keywords that you use at the bottom of each post act like an internet magnet. Anyone that googles a certain word or idea or concept that you indicate in your keyword search bar, has a very good chance of having your blog come up in the search engine. Blog a lot. Blog often.

Writers 4 Christ.org note: We also suggest authors look at similar free blog hosting sites such as Blog Spot and WordPress.com

8. Set up a Facebook FanPage and make sure to have a Twitter Account

Many of you are already doing this. If you haven’t, it’s a good time to start. Twitter is great because you can share information that you think is cool. It’s not about tooting your own horn, but rather about sharing information and being a valuable source. The more you give and share, the more followers and the more traffic you’ll attract to your website. Make sure you have a good catchy profile and pic and if you can get an application for twitter on your cell phone, you’ll have a lot of fun.

9. Prepare letters/emails and shoot to get at least 5-10 testimonials

… from either celebrities, or other authors that you respect and admire. If you do want to go for a celebrity endorsement, you can get a 7 day trial for $1 at WhoRepresents.com where you will find contact info for almost any celebrity you can think of. The secrets is to prepare 3-5 quotes in advance, and send them either the book or a chapter. Make it very easy for them to put their name to something you’ve already written. One trick is, if you are supporting a charity for example, try to find a celeb who also endorses the same non-profit by aligning yourself with their cause.

10. Create a media-ready release with a goal of getting on 5 radio shows in the next 60 days

You’ll need a great hook (a timely topic is the quickest way to get publicity), some statistics, and 3-5 message points that you can talk about on the air that will help the listeners solve a problem, and keep the audience entertained. This would also be a great time to consider getting media trained, which is an invaluable investment in yourself and well-worth the money.

About the author: Please visit Sally Shields, speaker, radio personality, free publicity specialist and author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller, The Daughter-in-Law Rules on the web at: www.thedilrules.com for contest giveaways, free bonus gifts, Sally’s newsletter, free music, … and more!

Source: www.ezinearticles.com

by Linda Meckler

Do you find as a published author you are always giving away your book to somebody for many different reasons? Yes, this goes along with the territory of having a published book, I am afraid. What the general public does not understand is the author has to pay for their own books.

When you self-publish your first book you are now in unknown territory. Yes, you could have read books on the subject. You probably spoke to many authors about this subject but until you actually put your money where your book is, you really do not know anything at all about what it is and what is expected of a self-published author.

You need to look at the subject as love. When you self-publish you are constantly spending money for all sorts of projects you never dreamed of in the past.

These are some of the things you should be aware of before you self-publish your book:

1. You will not be able to put your book on a known bookstores shelf. The reason for this is the publisher pays the bookstore for shelf space. There is not enough room for everybody’s books. They usually stick with the well-known popular authors they know they can sell and make money on.
2. An unknown author is a risk.
3. You will pay to self-publish your book.
4. You will do all the marketing which is completely frustrating.
5. The best way to sell your book is to do a talk or presentation at a club or group full of people and sell your book in the back of the room.
6. You will have to pay somebody to edit your book. It is not a good thing to edit your own book. You are to close to it and can not see what others can see.
7. If you need illustrations done and you can not do your own this is another expense.

I do not want you to get frustrated and not publish your book. If you feel your book is worth the money and effort – go for it. As I said above, This is strictly for people who love reading and writing and are willing to get hooked on an expensive hobby or extra income.

Once you self-publish your first book and you get good feed back from, friends, family and complete strangers you will definitely publish your second book. See what I said. HOOKED.

Thank you for reading my article. Please feel free to read any of my numerous articles on various subjects.

Copyright Linda E. Meckler 2009

About the author: Linda E. Meckler is the author of her first published book, “Ghost Kids Trilogy.” Christy, 12 and her Brother Brad, 16 move into an old house and meet Ghost Kids. Adventures keep you mystified until the hunt for Pirates’ Treasure. Love, Family Values and Charity burst off the pages.

Courtesy: EzineArticles

by Dana Lynn Smith

Social networking sites like Facebook are a terrific way to promote your book, but many authors don’t optimize their Facebook profile or venture beyond their profile. Here are six ways to effectively promote your book on Facebook:

1. Take full advantage of the promotional opportunities on your Facebook Profile

Just below your photo is a small box where you can enter a concise description of what you do, including the title of your book. The About Me box (under Personal Information) is a good place to describe your book and your business. In the Contact Information section you can enter multiple website addresses. Post your book cover in your photo album or another application and display it in the left column of your profile.

Remember, your Facebook profile must be registered in your real name. If you create a profile for your book or business, you risk having your account cancelled.

2. Facebook Fan Pages are similar to personal profiles, but they are created for business use

You can create a page to promote your book or your business, or even create a page for one of the characters in your novel. People join a page by becoming a fan.

You may want to offer an incentive to join (or at least visit) your fan page, such as a free download, a coupon for one of your products, or a contest. Another way to attract fans is to set your page up as an information hub, offering links and resources.

3. Facebook Groups are a great place to meet people who share your interests and find new friends

Search for groups by entering keywords in the Search box at the top of the page and then clicking on the Groups tab. You can gain visibility on a group page by introducing yourself on the wall, participating in discussions, and posting your book cover, photos or videos.

Forming your own group is another good way to subtly promote your book. Be sure to encourage discussions and offer valuable information such as free downloads and links to resources. You can send direct messages the entire group.

4. Joining relevant Facebook Events is a good way to get visibility by writing on the event wall and posting photos

In addition, you can subtly promote your book and yourself by promoting your own live or virtual events through a Facebook event.

5. Facebook displays pay-per-click ads on most pages on the site

Ads can be targeted by age, gender, location, education level, relationship status, or keywords in people’s profiles.

6. The Facebook Marketplace is a free classified advertising area where you can post a listing to sell your book

It’s worth an experiment if you have a book on a topic that someone might search for on a classified advertising site.

Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides. For in-depth information on how to promote your book through Facebook, see the Facebook Guide for Authors at www.SavvyBookMarketer.com. Visit the Book Marketing Maven blog at www.BookMarketingMaven.com for more book marketing tips.Courtesy: EzineArticle

by Angela Booth

Are you interested in jobs in writing? There’s never been a better time to be a writer — the explosive growth of the Web means that you can get all the writing jobs you’ve ever wanted. Let’s look at the three great jobs which may be right for you.

Writing Articles: Start Small, Build a Big Business

Websites need content, because adding articles to a site ensures that the site gets more traffic from the search engines — the more content, the more traffic. Since this traffic can be converted into sales, sites are very willing to spend money hiring web writers to write articles.

Thousands of large sites hire writers to produce a certain number of articles each week. Smaller sites buy articles as they need them.

Here’s an important tip. Realize that you’ll need to start small by writing for smaller sites to gain experience. As your experience grows, you can write for larger sites which pay better rates.

Blogging: Can You Write Snippets Every Day?

Blogging has become mainstream. There were many blog jobs available for writers, but just as with writing articles, you need to start small. The more experience you have, the more you’re worth.

If you’re interested in blogging for sites, you need to create and write your own blog. This will build a presence for you online, and in addition, your blog will act as a writing sample.

Getting blogs jobs is all about building relationships. Once you’ve created your own blog, and are blogging consistently, approach companies directly, rather than hunting for work.

As your experience grows, it’s a good idea to build a team — team up with a designer, and a programmer, so that you can take on large projects.

Information Marketing: Create Info Products

Information sells online. Thousands of businesses have sprung up to meet the desire for fast information, delivered immediately. You’ll find dozens of writing jobs on the outsourcing sites every day for writers to create e-books and other information products.

As with blogging, you need to get visible in this space. Take a couple of low-paying jobs in the beginning, to build your credits, and then go for higher paying jobs.

About the author: How do you find writing jobs? If you’re scouring the online writing boards, you’re not selling your writing services effectively. Discover the secrets of selling your writing services today, with Angela Booth’s new video series – www.abwebconsulting.com/Services/index.html

Courtesy: www.goarticles.com

by Tom Aaron, Aaron Language Services

The title in this article should grab your attention for one of two reasons: you are interested in being a proofreader or you notice the language is inappropriate. “Wanna” is not standard English. Looking at this title, you probably came to one of two conclusions: the writer deliberately used a mistake to grab your attention, or the writer did not proofread very well. At Aaron Language Services, we see error after error from people who apply for proofreading work. We do not expect perfection, but we do have ten tips to help proofreaders get closer to producing good work.

1. Careful Checking

Your email message may not be your proofreading work. If you are looking for proofreading work though, any typos or other errors will cast doubt on the quality of your work. If the email message is accompanying proofreading work, the errors will cast doubt on the attached work.

2. Three Times

Good proofreading borders on the obsessive. Catching those last errors requires attention to detail. Proofread everything at least three times. I needed three reads to finally notice that I had written “tree times” above instead of “three times”.

3. Time Intervals

If you keep reading the same writing over and over, catching mistakes becomes more difficult. We suggest that you spread out your three proofreadings over time. For simple text, this proofreading does not have to be on different days. For a longer and more complicated document though, each reading should be on a separate day.

4. Fresh & Alert

We work best when we are fresh and alert. Proofreading is complicated because we read for meaning, not for errors. Be sure that you are fresh and alert when you do your final proofreading.

5. Your Spellchecker

As basic as this tip is, many people seem to forget. Use your spellchecker.

6. Search Engines

Spellcheckers are not perfect. When writing this, the spellchecker said “proofreadings” was misspelled. I was positive it was not, but I still checked. Even when I am positive, I am still wrong sometimes.

7. When In Doubt

With the Internet just a few keystrokes away, the answers to most of our questions are just as close. If you do not know something, research it. Check dictionaries and other references. Check search engines to see what standard usage is.

8. Read

Reference materials help us to become better writers and to catch mistakes. Take advantage of them.

9. Reading

Anyone wanting to be a better writer, editor, or proofreader needs to read. Reading gives us the unconscious language knowledge that we need. As you read more books on writing, editing and proofreading and as you write, edit and proofread, you will also start to look more consciously as you read in general. You will notice Hemingway’s short active sentences and Faulkner’s punctuation of his long descriptive sentences. The more you read, the more you will notice. The more you notice, the better you will write, edit and proofread.

10. Taking a Break

We do not work in an ideal world; sometimes we must work when we are tired. Take breaks; refresh yourself. Do a page; walk around the room; do another page. A tired proofreader is a poor proofreader.

Being a good writer, editor or proofreader takes time. Improving your writing, editing and proofreading takes time too. If you follow these ten tips, you will learn and get better. Writing, editing, and proofreading are not mysterious skills that come to us naturally. If we work on them, we will get better. We wish you the best in developing your proofreading and editing skills.

About the Author: Aaron Language Services on the web at www.aaronlanguage.com is a translation and editing business primarily serving a Japanese client base. We are always looking for experienced editors specializing in medicine and the hard sciences. Click personnel on the menu on our top page.

Source: www.articlerich.com
Photo:micahsaul

by Hu Thomas

Knowing how to put words together is an art that mostly pays out at the start of your career. Despite going through volatile phases, copywriting is still considered as one of the most powerful aspects of online business. You can offer your copywriting services both online and offline, allowing yourself to flourish in a career that is closer to your heart. But if you are not well versed with some basic tips regarding copywriting, things can turn out to be not quite according to plan.

Build a Strong Portfolio

Before starting your career as a copywriter, you must have sufficient content at hand to show to people interested in your services. You should include all that you have written thus far, and give special prominence to some of the notable work. You should design your portfolio according to the requirements of a copywriter, presenting your writing skills in a refined way to people.

If you have already published some of your work on the internet, then you should indicate the URL of the web page that contains your work.

Success In Past Can Ensure Success in Future

People would intend to hire you as a copywriter for several purposes, while some may need content for their website or blog, others would need to sell their products through your copy. If you have had the chance to write for a successful promotion campaign in the past, then you must show it to your clients as a proof of your skills.

Build a Website to Promote your Services

Not all copywriters follow this step, but it can take you a long way in selling your copywriting services effectively. By building a website you will enable yourself to communicate with clients easily, while you will also get a platform where you can show your past achievements, features of your services and provides content to your subscribers.

Go After Clients Yourself

Instead of relying on websites and ads to get hold of clients, you should actively move to contact potential contacts yourself. You can start the search from your already established contacts that can refer your services to a third person looking for a copywriter.

Getting in touch with companies, organizations, individuals, clubs and associations will enable you to get good clients more often. You should also apply to posted jobs online by employers.

Charge A Fixed Rate

It would be best to set a fixed rate of charges for your services, as this will ease the task of calculating the fees for a particular project both for you and your client.

The main factors that should be considered while setting your charges are your experience, qualification and knowledge about related fields. Sometimes some extra expenses have to be incurred for the successful completion of a project, and you can also charge their amount in the project fees. The amount you charge also varies according to the nature of writing work you do, for example writing a press release for a business is a much more demanding job than producing web content.

Setting the right price for your writing services is always a perplexing matter, as charging too much will discourage good clients while charging too low will make clients think that you can’t produce quality. An easy way to find a solution for this problem can be to check out the fees of some other copywriters in your area; most copywriters charge a minimum of $45 per hour and increase this amount according to nature of project.

Your Satisfied Clients Can Be Your Marketers

People for whom you have worked with success in the past can be vital for the promotion of your services. You can use your proviso clients as reference for future work, but after taking their due permission. Similarly, you can include the positive feedback of your satisfied clients in testimonials, which will encourage new clients to work with you.

Offering Free Content May Be Necessary

While your portfolio may be sufficient to convince some of your clients, there are always some who are overcautious and do not rely on sample work. You can convince them about your abilities by writing a free sample for them. This will ultimately benefit your service as you build a relationship of trust with your clients.

What Copywriting Service Are You Willing To Offer?

Copywriting is much more than writing anything; there are many types of content that is produced by copywriters. Here are some of the services you can offer as a copywriter:

• Press Releases
• Newsletters
• Ghostwriting
• Business Proposals
• Online Advertising
• Web Content
• Direct Marketing through Emails
• Brochures, Pamphlets and Catalogs
• Letters and Memos
• Content For Promotion

About the author: Hu Thomas is an experienced internet marketeer and can be found at his review site Winning Money Ways and at his new blog Winning Money Ways Blog

Courtesy: www.isnare.com
photo credit: Olivander