Book Launch 2.0 - The Hollywood Method

What can authors and book publishers learn from software developers and major motion pictures about introducing something new to the public? Maybe a lot.

But it's probably not what you think ...

According to the 37 Signals web site, it boils down to three steps:

1) Tease

2) Preview

3) Launch

First, in the Tease phase, you blog for months about the topic of your upcoming book. Make people aware that it's coming soon. Build a mailing list of readers who want to be the first to know when it's released.

Next, during Preview, you make sample chapters available to your list. Leak advance copies to key influencers in your field. Ask for testimonials from experts and your biggest supporters.

Finally, when you Launch, the book is available for sale from your own web site, Amazon, BN.com. You make a special offer to your mailing list. You alert the industry influencers and experts you contacted earlier. You ask other bloggers and ezine publishers to write about it and perhaps earn affiliate commissions. You send review copies to as many sources as make sense.

Read the entire 37 Signals post for more details, but I think there's a lot that can be applied to book promotion here.

Bottom line: Promotion shouldn't start the day the books arrive from the printer. A whole string of activities can take place in the weeks and months leading up to the "for sale" date.

-Bob

Join me for a New Year's Prosperity Plan workshop ...

"How to Beat the Recession, Reach Your Creative Goals, and Thrive in 2009!"

Coming to these cities:

San Francisco, CA - Saturday, December 27
Los Angeles, CA - Saturday, January 3
St. Louis, MO - Saturday, January 10

A powerful hands-on workshop for songwriters, musicians, authors, writers, artists, actors, and anyone with a creative entrepreneurial bone in their body.

Get more details on the New Year's Prosperity Plan workshop here.

Your 2009 Author Prosperity Plan & New Year's Resolution

This just in ...

I'm hitting the road right after Christmas and bringing a powerful new hands-on workshop to the following three cities:

San Francisco, CA - Saturday, December 27

Los Angeles, CA - Saturday, January 3

St. Louis, MO - Saturday, January 10

I'm calling it "Your New Year's Prosperity Plan: How to Beat the Recession, Reach Your Creative Goals, and Thrive in 2009!"

Who should attend? Well ... writers, authors, and book publishers, of course.  But this event will also boost the careers of songwriters, musicians, artists, actors -- in fact, anyone with a creative entrepreneurial bone in their body.

Please help me spread the word by sending your creative friends in the area to the 2009 Prosperity Plan workshop page.

Hope to see you in one of these three cities in a few weeks!

-Bob

How to Create a Major Book Buzz Online Get a front row seat as I show you how to use the Internet to fuel word-of-mouth marketing. Learn more ...

How to Create Freebie Content to Build Your Mailing List

Last month on the Mequoda Daily blog, they answered the question:

How do you create those complimentary products you give away in exchange for an email address?

Great topic. First, I assume you already know that one of your greatest marketing assets is an opt-in list of people who are interested in the topics you write about and publish books on. So you should be actively building your list at all times.

You DO know that. Right?

But these days, you need to give people a compelling reason to submit their name and email address. You almost have to bribe them. And that's where the free giveaway can be very effective.

What's the best way to create a freebie without giving away the entire book?

Here are two good ideas from Mequoda:

• Create an ebook using content from your existing blog. You have so much content on your web site that no one may get to read unless you package it together. Three or four blog posts on mobile publishing might turn into an ebook called "Mobile Publishing Secrets."
  
  
• Summarize some of your book's content. With this method, you might take a theme from your book and offer a stripped-down treatment of the topic.

Other ideas:

• Simply create a PDF file of the introduction and first chapter or two of your book. If the content grabs them, readers will want to know (and buy) more.
  
  
• Record your live talks and workshops. Make the audio or video recordings available as free downloads.
  
  
• Have a friend interview you on the topic of your book. Record it and have someone transcribe the interview. Turn the audio or the text (or both) into a freebie to build your list.
  
  
• Do you have a glossary of terms in your book? Or an appendix of helpful resources? Make them available.

There are many more ways to create your giveaway content. But this initial list should get you started.

Whatever you do, make sure you are creating incentives for people to sign up for your email list. It's a powerful book promotion asset.

-Bob

P.S. Below is MY incentive to get on my mailing list :-)

How One Writer Increased Email Signups by 300%

There's no debate about this. Building a mailing list of people interested in what you do is crucial to your success as an author.

And these days, simply putting a signup form on your web site isn't the best solution. You must create incentives for people to submit their name and email address. Those incentives can include free sample chapters, audio interviews, checklists, etc.

Or you can get really creative and do what blogger Jim Kukral does: He sings "Happy Birthday" to his subscribers.

Here's the text from his email signup page ...

Please consider joining my private email update list.

BONUS! If you trust me enough to give me your day and month of birth, I'll personally sing happy birthday to you on my ukulele on your birthday on video! How can you beat that deal?

Now that's cool.

I have a feeling every subscriber gets the same generic music video clip, delivered by autoresponder email. But that doesn't make it any less special. I'm sure his readers appreciate the semi-personalized touch, delivered on their special day.

So ... what could you do to inspire more email signups and create an even stronger bond with your readers?

-Bob

Advice for Self-Promoting Authors

Over on O'Reilly Media's Tools of Change for Publishing blog, the question was posed:

What do you think authors should do to promote themselves online? How much should publishers get involved?

Here's how I answered the question in a comment post:

I'm a full-time self-published author (and proud of it) who has been making good use of the Internet for more than 13 years. So I'm a little biased in my response :-)

The proactive self-promoting author has the best chance of success. If you go the traditional publishing route, by all means, use the resources that your house has to offer. But don't count on them to create your career for you.

To make the best use of the Internet, know that you need more than a good web site. You need a Web Presence. So think seriously about setting up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Squidoo, Blogger and/or Wordpress, and more.

And make sure you purposefully funnel people from all these sites back to your home base on the Web: your personal author site.

The Internet has been very good to me. Let it be your publishing friend too.

-Bob

Tim Ferriss: How to Create a Bestseller

Leo Babauta has a good interview with 4-Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss on his WriteToDone.com blog. Tim delves into the route he took to turn his book into a bestseller.

Here are my four big takeaways from the Q&A:

1. Your title is crucial. It can make or break the success of your book. Take time crafting and testing to find the best one.
   
   
2. Get to know bloggers -- but don't push your book too hard. Be human.
   
   
3. It's visible retail placement and not the mainstream media that usually propels a book to the bestseller lists.
   
   
4. Focus on making yourself a credible expert vs. pushing a book (which ties back into #2).

Tim also outlined his publishing story on his own blog here.

Interesting reading.

-Bob

How to Create a Major Book Buzz Online Get a front row seat as I show you how to use the Internet to fuel word-of-mouth marketing. Learn more ...

The Do-It-Yourself Author Interview

Sure, it would be great to get magazine and newspaper feature writers to interview you, say glowing things about your book, and run your life story in print. But if that goal is slow in coming, don’t give up. Do it yourself.

Here's how ...

Imagine your ideal interview. What questions would you like the interviewer to ask you? What sort of fascinating answers would you provide to amaze and inspire readers? Have some fun thinking this through.

Next, write out your fantasy questions and answers. But don't ramble about everything under the sun. Stay focused on your author identity and why people should care about you and your book. Make your responses lively, interesting, and maybe even a little shocking and controversial.

Take this self-produced Q&A and put it in your press kit and on your web site, or use it as a stand-alone item sent to the media. Journalists will use it to learn more about the author behind the book, and they may very well use your quotes in the articles they write about you.

-Bob