The Cuckleburr Times » Stephanie J. Hale

How to Make Your Book a Bestseller – By Harnessing the Incredible Power of Internet Marketing

Stephanie J. Hale — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:55:23 +0000

If you’ve written a book or if you want to get your message out to the world, there has never been an easier time to become a bestselling author. The Internet has provided writers with an unprecedented opportunity to spread their message and reach more readers at a faster rate than ever before.

So let me take you through the process step-by-step of how to turn your book into a bestseller and gain more ‘customers’ or readers.

Your number one priority is to give away something of value to your potential readers. It sounds back-to-font – but trust me, it isn’t.

You might give away valuable content such as: a ‘how to’ article; a free ebook or report; an ezine; a teleseminar; or an MP3.

Better still, team up with other experts who can provide this free content. So if your book is about dog breeding, contact other pet experts. Or if your book is about gardening, contact high profile gardening experts (preferably those with a large database or ‘list’ of clients).

Tell them you’re offering the chance to promote their business if they’d like to offer something for free in return. It’s a win-win situation: they provide you with a freebie, you promote their website to your readers.

When you put a value on these free bonuses, it can run into thousands of dollars. This makes a $9.99 book phenomenal value – in fact, readers will sometimes buy a book just to get their hands on the bonuses.

On the day your book is launched, ask all the experts who gave free bonuses to help promote it. They can do this via their own mailing lists, as well as social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Chances are they’ll also want to bulk-buy your book to sell to their own clients. If everyone promotes your book on the same day, you can very quickly push your book onto the bestseller list for your particular niche on Amazon.

Even if it only hovers there for three seconds, that’s all it takes. The kudos of having a bestselling book lasts a lifetime! I even have a client who used this technique successfully to push her poetry book (self-published 5 years previously) to bestselling status.

What to do with your ‘customers’ or readers when you have their contact details? Write to them at least once a week. Get to know them: let them get to know you. Share valuable information with them.

Follow these simple steps and you will be well on your way to becoming a successful author.

Stephanie J. Hale is a leading writers’ coach and publishing scout. She’s worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. She specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. Find more FREE publishing tips at: http://www.richwriterpoorwriter.com

How to Sell More Copies of Your Book – Simple Marketing Tip For Writers & Authors

Stephanie J. Hale — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:55:55 +0000

Rich writers understand that writing a book is only the beginning, not an end in itself. They are often marketers first and writers second.

Marketing may sound like a dirty word especially to literary or academic writers. I understand that. I used to feel the same.

But let me ask you this. What’s the point writing a book if you can’t sell the darn thing?

If you really want to make a successful career as a writer, you can’t afford to ignore marketing.

What I recommend – if you haven’t done it already – is to think about ‘joint ventures’ to sell or promote your book. Don’t be put off by the business jargon – this just means looking for other people who can help sell and publicize your book for you.

So, for example, if you’ve written a book about childcare, are there any professionals who could promote you to their list of clients? If you’ve written a book about dogs, are there online vets or dog schools who could promote your book to their customers?

Why would they do it, you might ask? Simple. If your book aligns with their service, they are adding value to their clients by telling them about you.

Now listen up – some businesses have ‘lists’ running into hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions. Most mainstream publishers on the other hand are happy if they sell five thousand books – this is considered a ‘successful’ print run!

Do it today. Right now. Write a list of 50 potential joint venture partners.

Feeling nervous or a little intimidated? Yes, we all do. Even with 20 years experience, I still get butterflies at times. But if your goals aren’t making you even a little scared, you’re probably not setting yourself big enough goals!

Breaking through that ‘fear barrier’ is what separates out bestselling authors and millionaire writers from the rest. Even if 40 business owners say ‘no’, and 10 say ‘yes’ this could make a massive difference to your book sales.

Is this book your passion? Does it make your heart sing? If so, can you afford not to take this step today. Try it – what have you got to lose?

Stephanie J Hale is a leading writers’ coach and publishing scout. She’s worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. She specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. More FREE publishing tips at: http://www.richwriterpoorwriter.com

Should I Disguise Characters in My Book Or Memoir? Is it Ok to Write About People I Know?

Stephanie J. Hale — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:36:15 +0000

Writers often ask me if it’s ok to write about people they know. Sometimes they’re writing a memoir or autobiography. Or perhaps they’re writing a novel with a hero or villain based on someone they know.

There are various little tricks you can use to make sure that people don’t recognize themselves. You can change physical appearance – stature, hair length, eye colour, etc. You can also change gender, profession, or location. Or you can blend two or more different people together to create a different character.

Believe it or not, the chances are most people won’t recognize themselves. I say this as someone who has both written about other people and been written about as a character.

When I have created characters based on people I know, they have never spotted themselves! Never. Not once. Similarly, I failed to recognize a thinly disguised portrait of myself in a Booker-shortlisted novel. Thankfully, the portrait was a flattering one. Though I won’t tell you the name of the book – that’s a little secret between me and the author!

Another alternative is to use a nom de plume to obscure everyone’s identity including your own. The creative advantage is that this may allow you the emotional freedom to write your book in an uninhibited way. Belle de Jour is a high profile example of a writer who did this. However, I wouldn’t recommend this in all but the most extreme cases – as it makes it extremely difficult to do marketing and publicity.

How will you promote your book if you can’t speak to the media, for example? How will you manage your website or build a relationship with your readers? People also relate better to book reviews when they see a photo of the author.

If you’re on good terms with the people you’re writing about, and you don’t intend to disguise them, I’d advise asking what their feelings are. As a child, my mother was a newspaper editor who used to pen a weekly column poking fun at our home life. It was trivial domestic stuff, nothing to shake the earth. But as a teenager, let me tell you, it was excruciating.

A lot of this will come down to the personalities of the people you are writing about and what your relationship with them is like. Only you will know the answer to this.

Finally, we come to the issue of libel. Now, libel laws are complex – I can easily write a whole new article on the subject. However, the main question to ask is: can the person be identified by themselves or anyone else? If so, is what you’ve written damaging to them either professionally or personally?

Rest assured that libel is extremely hard to prove, very expensive, and rarely embarked upon by anyone but the rich and famous. This said, get expert advice if you think you may be writing anything that’s likely to end up with a law suit.

Stephanie J Hale is a leading writers’ coach and publishing scout. She’s worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. She specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. More FREE publishing tips at: http://www.richwriterpoorwriter.com

How to Get a Celebrity Endorsement For Your Book – Tips to Get a Quote on Your Book Cover

Stephanie J. Hale — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:24:03 +0000

Getting a celebrity endorsement for your book is one of the easiest ways to promote it.

Readers are much more likely to listen to a well-known expert or media personality saying they can’t put your book down. Not only this but a little ‘celebrity’ magic tends to rub off on you.

I’m not saying that you should write to every celebrity or expert you can think of willy-nilly. However, if there is a tie-in with your book, however tenuous, then go for it.

Many authors are reluctant to approach celebrities for testimonials. Don’t make the same mistake!

Celebrities have egos the same as everyone else. And if your book is getting publicity and media attention, this is also going to benefit them.

You may have to approach 100, even 500, celebrities. But you only need ONE to make a massive difference to your book sales. Does it really matter if 499 tell you to get lost, if you get the one testimonial you’re after? What do you stand to lose? Hurt pride and the time it took to write the letter or email!

It’s never been easier to access celebrities via the Internet. Not only can you use search engines like Google to track them down. Many of them also have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Make it easy for them by writing 5 of your own testimonials. When you contact them, point out that they can choose one of your templates if they wish. Anything that saves them time or having to wade through loads of material, will persuade them of your professionalism.

If you’re feeling daunted, then focus on the positive benefits for you and your book. Quotes will boost your book sales and credibility. And think how great you’ll feel when you see those endorsements printed on your book cover.

Stephanie J Hale is a leading writers’ coach and publishing scout. She’s worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. She specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. More FREE publishing tips at http://www.richwriterpoorwriter.com

What Impression Are You Giving to Literary Agents & Publishers?

Stephanie J. Hale — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:01:09 +0000

I had an ‘emergency’ meeting with an author recently. I helped her get signed up with a leading literary agent a couple of months ago. But then, she sensed that the agent was losing interest and trying to ‘get rid’ of her.

Now this all sounded a bit odd to me as the book is highly marketable and the agent is at the top of his field. Agents don’t usually remove clients from their list this quickly – even if they can’t place a book with a publisher.

I spent two hours listening to the author and trying to come up with solutions to the problems that had arisen. During this time, I heard phrases like: “I can’t do that,” “he won’t let me” and “I’d rather not”. Then, there was: “that’s not allowed” and “that’d take too much of my time.”

A lot of her statements were conjecture, based on negative assumptions. She seemed to anticipate bad things happening and a worst case scenario, without it even happening! How was she to know something wouldn’t work without trying it? How could she possibly know that her agent would say “no” without asking him? Who invented these unspoken rules – who said they couldn’t be broken?

By the end of the consultation I was emotionally drained and exhausted. I’d come up with maybe 20 or so different solutions to resolve the problems. Many of my other clients have run with these suggestions and made a phenomenal success of them. Yet every single suggestion was met with a ‘can’t', ‘won’t’ or ‘couldn’t’.

What puzzled me is that this author had driven over 150 miles to see me and was paying for a two-hour consultation. Yet by the end of it, she was no further on than when she had arrived. Except perhaps she’d found 20 more things that ‘didn’t work’ for her.

I put it to the author, as delicately as I could, that there are no free lunches in publishing. Even if she got a book deal tomorrow, there would be work involved. There would still be a PR and marketing campaign to organize. There would be promotional events. There would be a media campaign. There would still be hurdles and challenges.

She had spent 3 years writing and researching her book. She’d then spent another year trying to find an agent without success, before seeking my help. Surely after all this effort, it was worth a little extra work?

I was met with stony silence and one of those looks that told me I didn’t know what the heck I was talking about.

This author had such a negative attitude that it didn’t surprise me in the least that her agent was trying to get rid of her. In fact, I was starting to think the very same thing myself!

A couple of days later, the author sent me an email saying she had ended the contract with her agent and was going to look for another one. She pulled out, not the agent – so she never had chance to find out if he was trying to get rid of her after all!

Here was an author who had every chance of a decent book deal – and her very worst enemy was herself.

Not everyone is as negative as this particular author. But we all have our ‘off’ days. The important thing is to make sure these ‘off’ days don’t impact on our professional relationships. An agent (or publisher) is not someone to off-load your problems or anxieties on to. They are not someone who wants to hear ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t’ in every other sentence.

Literary agents and publishers regularly go the extra mile for clients. Often this is done in their own free time. We take manuscripts on holiday with us. We make phone calls from home. It’s part of publishing – the wheels wouldn’t turn unless we were prepared to do this. The fact is that we do it because we love our work and the best clients are a joy to work with. When we’re working with a talented writer, it’s what makes our jobs worthwhile and exciting. And the ‘can do’ authors with a positive attitude are the ones we’re most prepared to put ourselves out for.

Stephanie J Hale is a leading writers’ coach and publishing scout. She’s also the co-founder and CEO of The Millionaire Bootcamp for Women. A former BBC / IRN newsreader and Oxford University lecturer, she’s worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. Stephanie specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. More FREE publishing tips at: http://www.richwriterpoorwriter.com