Balancing Priorities

Dear Authors,

Welcome to our first issue of BOOK BUZZ! In the next few minutes you'll learn strategies, tips, and insider secrets for buzzing (promoting) your book(s).

We always welcome your questions. Some will be answered online. Others will be answered personally--whichever is most appropriate. We also welcome your suggestions and tips on what works for you--to pass along to the other authors.

BALANCING BOOK PROMOTION ACTIVITY WITH YOUR JOB AND PERSONAL LIFE

A survey of our authors revealed two main concerns: 1) How to market one's books and 2) how to balance one's book activity with a job and personal life. Let's start with #2.

1. Realize that you have limitations--you can't do everything you'd like to do. Your time and resources are limited--use them wisely.

2. Write down your most important book promotion goals. Pray over them. Prioritize them. Discuss them with your family. Get them on board.

3. Drop or postpone *non-essential* activities to make more time for your book.

4. Try to combine personal activities with book activities. For example: If you're on vacation, could you squeeze in a booksigning in the morning so as to not interrupt family "prime time" (afternoons and evenings)? Most of us can't afford to go on a book tour, so it's important to piggyback book promotion onto other activities.

5. Make sure that your book promotion efforts are "high yield" type activities. BOOK BUZZ! will help you sort that out, over time.

DO YOU HAVE A TIP OR STRATEGY FOR BALANCING YOUR BOOK AND PERSONAL LIFE? HELP YOUR FELLOW AUTHORS. LET US HEAR FROM YOU!

IDENTIFYING YOUR MOST EFFECTIVE BOOK MARKETING ACTIVITIES

The most *effective* activities for one author will not necessarily be the most effective activities for every author. That's because our gifts differ. Some authors will do better in front of a crowd. Some will shine on the telephone. Others have a knack for enlisting the help of others. The following book promotion activities are generally considered the most important ones:

1. SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS--Here is where you can make the greatest connection with your potential readers. They have an opportunity to get to know you. This builds trust.

TIP: TRUST IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BOOK MARKETING WEAPON!

Speaking engagements are one of the best ways for you to sell your own copies. You sell them at retail. They are non-returnable. You help seed the marketplace (people read your book, recommend it, then that person goes to a bookstore and orders it).

Tell your audience that they can order your book at any bookstore. (Even if they don't have it in stock, the ISBN number and Books in Print listing identify where the book can be ordered from.) This will help increase sales if they came to the meeting unprepared to buy a book or if they decide to buy more later to give away. Seed the marketplace!

2. RADIO INTERVIEWS--You can also make a great connection with listeners, if you come across with enthusiasm and genuine interest in their needs. Radio interviews are the easiest to do because you can do them from home over the telephone. When you do an interview, don't hold back. Don't ever say, "It's in my book." Give them everything you've got. They will assume there is much more in your book!

TIP: DON'T TRY TO PLUG YOUR BOOK ON THE AIR--GIVE THEM A GREAT SHOW!

Let the HOST plug your book. If you're giving a great interview with lots of listener benefits and value, they will want to--and it will be more effective than if you do it. Just make sure you *do* get at least one book plug at the end of the interview (how to order, etc.).

Before you do an interview, prepare by making a list of questions for the host. It helps if you include the amount of time you need to answer the question so the host can better manage the program's time constraints.

3. PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR)--PR is a great way to get free promotion for your book:

Cost of press kit: $3.00
Cost of postage: $2.00
Value of exposure: Priceless!

PR includes radio and TV interviews, but don't forget print publications. Newspapers and magazines need interviews too. Print people are very different from radio people, though. They are "journalists" who don't like to be bribed with offers of free books, gift baskets, or free lunches (unlike broadcast people who love this kind of stuff).

Your pitch to the news media must be about, well, news! It must be about helping them to snag more readers. It must be about making their hectic jobs easier. It's not about your book (unless it's a book review editor). It's about becoming a resourse to help the journalist get their agenda across!

TIP: THE MEDIA CAN BE AN ALLY OR ENEMY. STAY ON THEIR GOOD SIDE!

4. THE INTERNET--email and websites are a powerful and inexpensive tool to promote your book--when you do it right!

Almost everyone has email and knows how to send it. There's no excuse for not using it to promote your book. You have a list of email addresses (if you don't, you need to start an address book). Send an email to your list announcing the publication of your book (or of some milestone that your book has reached, such as a sales figure or major market that has opened up).

TIP: DON'T SPAM! ONLY SEND TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW. LET THEM FORWARD IT!

Maybe you want to announce a special sale price for a limited period of time. Even better, send out a few testimonies of lives who've been dramatically changed by your book (with their permission--and even then use only their first name and state of residence).

Keep your emails short. Keep them warm and personal sounding. Write like you talk! We'll talk about websites another time.

So, there you have the top four categories of book promotion. Later we'll focus on each of these areas in greater depth, plus continue to answer your questions and pass along your own book promotion ideas.

Thanks for visiting. Let us know how this information has helped you to buzz your book.

Warmest Regards,
Brian Banashak, Publisher
© 2004, Brian Banashak