This week’s Book Marketing Update references seven posts that I felt were important to include.

I always listen to David Gaughran and Dave Chesson because they really know their fields. So, you’ll find two of their posts this week included below.

Whereas the social media news that I normally include is fairly generic, this week the information is squarely for authors like you.

Enjoy the posts, have a great weekend, and keep writing.

Book Marketing

How to Create a Professional Author Page in Amazon Author Central by Dave Chesson: “Using Amazon Author Central and creating an Author page can make a big difference in your book sales. It proves your legitimacy as an author and gives you certain functions and capabilities on Amazon to convert readers into fans.”

How Library Distribution Works for Indie Authors from Alliance of Independent Authors: “We all know that having our books in a library is a good thing. More readers, a segment of readership we don’t always reach, and, in some territories,  income. But how do you get your books into a library and how does their distribution system work? These are questions we answer today in this post about how library distribution works for indie authors.”

15 Rules for Successfully Advertising Books by David Gaughran: David Gaughran knows what he’s talking about when it comes to book marketing and advertising. He has experience and wisdom so definitely read this post.

Publishing

Publish Wide, Sell More Books And AI for Voice. Google Play Books With Ryan Dingler and by Joanna Penn: Ryan Dingler is a product manager at Google. In this post, Joanna and Ryan discuss the difference between Google Books and Google Play Books, the importance of metadata, and other topics. Don’t miss this episode.

Author Branding

How to Introduce Yourself as an Author and Build a Strong Author Brand from Anne R. Allen and Ruth Harris and by Mike Bohdan: “Like a sculptor over wet clay — you have unprecedented control over your brand. Shape it as you will. Doing it blindly can lead to a bad result though. A shapeless mess that harms more than benefits. On the contrary, brand strategy can help you avoid such an outcome.”

Social Media

A Debut Novelist in a Pandemic: How to Navigate a Launch Through Social Media from Jane Friedman and by Kathleen Marple Kalb: How do you launch a book during a pandemic? Read this author’s account of her book launch in April 2020.

Content Creation and Social Media for Writers from Sabrina Ricci: “When it comes to marketing on social media, there are two things to consider: content creation and platform/distribution.”

Quote of the Week

This book marketing update is heavy on publishing and a little light on marketing but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

Keep reading and writing and following your dreams.

Book Marketing

Lead Magnet Ideas for Authors by Ruth Tuffnell: If you want more subscribers on your email list, entice readers with a gift they will love. In this post, Ruth Tuffnell has some suggestions for you.

The Key to a Successful Novel Lies in Genre by C.S. Lakin: “If you asked me what is the most important thing an author needs to know to ensure they will have the best chance of success with their novel, I could sum it up in one word: genre.”

Author Blogs

Blogging Trends for Authors and Writers from Sabrina Ricci and by Stacy Walden: “Blogging is one of the best ways to build a platform, both as a book author and as a freelance writer. With over 3.5 billion searches on Google every day, it’s estimated that 77% of internet users read and interact with blogs.”

Publishing

How to Publish an eBook from Alliance of Independent Authors: If you’re an Indie author and you plan to publish an ebook, be sure to read this blog post first.

How To Self-Publish A Book In 10 Steps by David Gaughran: If you are new to self-publishing, read this comprehensive guide.

Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know Hybrid Publishing from Jane Friedman and by Barbara Linn Probst: This post thoroughly describes hybrid publishing and lays out its advantages.

Email Marketing

What Every Writer Needs to Know About Email Newsletters (They’re Not Going Away) from Jane Friedman and by Catherine Baab-Muguira: “Newsletters are an older medium than most writers—or most people, period—understand, one that has stood the test of time, proving monetizable through multiple centuries.”

Quote of the Week

In today’s Book Marketing Update, there are a lot of marketing posts that range from losing a book sale to how to be a great podcast guest.

There was also a lot of social media news this past week. So you’ll find three posts in that category below.

I hope you find all of the posts referenced below helpful as you try to sell more books.

Stay safe and keep writing.

Book Marketing

The Ultimate Guide to Selling Children’s Books from the Alliance of Independent Authors: “Marketing books is hard enough. But what happens when your readers aren’t the people paying for the books? That’s the problem children’s authors face. Alliance of Independent Authors members, Karen Inglis and Kate Woodard discuss selling children’s books and the methods that have worked for them.“

How to Launch a Self-Published Book, With Sacha Black and Orna Ross: Foundational Self-Publishing Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors: Launching any book is never easy. Indie authors can face additional barriers because they lack the marketing support of a publisher. This podcast (and the text) delve into this issue.

The Graphic Details from Writer Unboxed: “No matter who publishes your book, your obligation to promote it is inescapable. Every author would rather be writing than promoting so it’s important to make your time flogging your book count.”

How to Lose a Book Sale. The One You Almost Made by Ruth Harris: Want to sell more books? The message here is this: develop your craft and hire an experienced editor.

Podcasts

How to Give a Great Podcast Author Interview from Writers Helping Writers and by Colleen M. Story: There are some great tips in this post. Be sure to read it.

Social Media News

Twitter is exploring the use of Facebook-style emoji reactions from TechCrunch: Twitter “has been surveying users throughout the month to get input on how they feel about a broader set of emoji-style reactions, similar to what you’d see on Facebook.” And Twitter is experimenting with ways users can like or dislike tweets. Stay tuned.

Twitter Previews Potential New Account Safety Tools, Launches New Update for Birdwatch from Social Media Today: I always applaud social platforms when they take measures to create a safer environment.

Twitter is Developing New ‘Community’ Tools to Share Tweets with Selected Audiences from Andrew Hutchinson: Groups started on LinkedIn and in my view, LinkedIn groups were and are the best part of LinkedIn. Groups have done well on Facebook so it makes sense that Twitter would give it a go as well. Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week

In today’s Book Marketing Update there are plenty of great book marketing tips for you.

I especially appreciate the post from Written Word Media about preorders. Bookmark it and refer to it when you have new releases.

Keep writing and marketing your books!

Book Marketing

The Ultimate Guide to Launching a Book for Indie Authors from Alliance for Independent Authors: This post provides a comprehensive list of tasks to complete for your next book launch. Be sure to save this list and use it every time you launch a new book.

So You Want to Start a Fiction Podcast? by Multitude Productions: If you are seriously considering a podcast, be sure to download this 50-page PDF. You’ll learn everything you need to know on this topic. But remember this: podcasts are time consuming. I used to had one and I had to abandon it due to time constraints.

How to Market Self-Published Books in the Digital World from Ingram Spark: “Before we dive into the nitty gritty, let’s get one thing straight. The most important part of your digital marketing strategy is your plan. It’s important to start off with clear author goals and a defined target audience. Based on your budget and/or resources,  you’ll then decide which elements you’ll include in your marketing plan and create a timeline to stay organized. In this post, we’ll discuss top digital marketing strategies to include in your book marketing plan.”

Preorders

The Author’s Guide to eBook Pre-orders from Written Word Media: “Think of pre-orders as a tool in your promo stack toolkit for new releases. They shouldn’t be the only marketing activity you undertake for a new release, but they certainly shouldn’t be overlooked.”

Social Media

Facebook to Launch Self-Publishing Platform for Writers, Journalists to Monetize Content from Variety: Be sure to read this article. However, don’t fall for it. Be cautious about what Facebook is doing and don’t jump into it. No one yet knows how Facebook will really treat the writers who sign up for these services. I suspect this is just another way for Facebook to monetize its operations.

Facebook is Looking to Launch Audio-Only Rooms to Hook Into the Social Audio Trend from Social Media Today: Not to be outdone, Facebook plans to introduce it’s own version of Clubhouse, an audio-based social media platform. Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week