The Guardian Herd: First Impressions of a Book Tour

Howdy folks, Jennifer here ruminating after the first week of The Guardian Herd Tour! I'm such a mix of greenhorn and old ranch hand when it comes to writing and publishing. I know a lot, but a lot is new. I've leaped from aspiring writer, to self-published writer, to traditionally published writer, and
each stage has a learning curve.

So here are my first impressions after week one of The Guardian Herd: STARFIRE Tour.

An Author's Experience at Children's Institute 2014

This article is reprinted from Joelle Delbourgo Associates, Inc. Please click HERE to read the original!

Best Unkept Book Marketing Secret of the Indie Author

You might already know what the secret is, because it's not actually a secret. It's widely touted on indie author forums across the internet. The secret is:

Four Steps to Transform Yourself from Unpaid Writer to Successful Author

Last year I made the decision to schedule writing hours for myself and it changed my life.

Writers: Why Your Word Count Matters

Word count matters whether you self-publish or traditionally publish!

I grew up assuming publishers and readers wanted lengthy books. I thought more was better, but I couldn't have been more wrong!

Your word count matters for the following two reasons:

The KDP Select Experiment Results!

I ran my first KDP Select promotion from September 14-18th. It entailed giving the kindle version of The Pet Washer away for free for five days.

I promoted the freebie on Goodreads, my blog, Facebook, and Twitter. I learned after the fact that I could have submitted it to specialized freebie websites 7 to 10 days in advance for further free advertising. Next time!

Amazon Bestseller, The Pet Washer, is FREE for a Limited Time

For the first time, I'm offering The Pet Washer, an Amazon childrens ebook bestseller, FREE until September 18, 2012!

Click HERE to download!

Free Kindle apps make this and any Amazon ebook easy to read. You don't have to own a kindle. 

I decided to utilize Amazon's free program after much internal (and external) debate. In the end, I chose to try it for the following three reasons:

Day 168--Giving Your Manuscript a Trim

My new motto--"When in doubt, cut it out!"

If it doesn't sound right, cut it out. If it doesn't advance the plot, cut it out. If it doesn't feel like it's working, cut it out. If you're not sure, cut it out!

Depending on your level of experience with writing, you have or you have not yet befriended the axe. The axe is your friend, trust me.

The #1 Secret to Successful Book Marketing, W.O.M.

I have spent countless hours researching book marketing, marketing my own book, The Pet Washer, and talking to other authors. I will boil down successful book marketing to one simple phrase:

W.O.M.

Word of Mouth

This is the truth--I have never seen a significant spike in sales after a Facebook post, a Tweet, a book review, or an author interview. This doesn't mean they aren't worth doing for reasons of building a presence, but I have come to believe that they don't produce direct or immediate sales. 

I have taken a look at my own book buying habits. I don't purchase books because of an ad I saw or because the author tweeted about the book. When I want a new book to read--I ask my friends what they are reading! Every book I've read in the last twelve months was either recommended to me or it was written by an author I already know I like. There was one book I chose because it had a brilliant cover, but I never finished it. 

Having said this, I do believe that garnering reviews and doing interviews are 100% worthwhile. They are free and they build your presence as an author. If your book is recommended via W.O.M. to a prospective reader, this is when they are likely to Google you or the book. At this point, it's important to have reviews, author interviews, and a website available to them. 

The law of W.O.M. is as honest as the law of gravity. Anything you can do to generate W.O.M. will work! W.O.M. will sell more books than everything else you do combined! Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey owe their success to W.O.M.

So how do you generate W.O.M.? You put your sneakers on, turn off your computer, and you get out there! It involves giving your book away, doing Goodreads giveaways, donating copies to fundraisers--getting creative! You will need physical copies of your book to hand out and sell out of the back of your car. If you published an ebook, companies like Createspace offer free services to also make your book available in paperback.

What I am doing to generate W.O.M. for The Pet Washer

• Giving copies away to readers in and out of my inner circle.
• Contacting bookstores who have a "local author" section for signings and book placement.
• Contacting local gift boutiques and dog grooming salons (this is unique to my subject matter) about selling on consignment.
• Donating autographed copies to horse shows, school fundraisers, dog-related events, silent auctions, raffles.
• Arranging book signings in conjunction with other authors/events.
• Speaking at schools about creative writing and passing out Pet Washer bookmarks to the kids.
• Donating copies to school libraries.
• Utilizing family in other states by asking them to approach school libraries, bookstores, and boutiques. 
• Carrying books in my car like business cards--handing them out to people who can help me market or selling them to interested customers on the spot. 
• Donating them to classroom libraries. 
• Donating copies to people who are involved in book clubs that read childrens books. (Lots of moms join these book clubs to preview books for their children.)
• Sponsoring local writing contests.

When I first started marketing, I was focused solely on my sales. But early sales, especially for indie's, don't tell the whole story. An avalanche is begun with a snowflake. My sales ranking obsession kept my marketing creativity in a box. It made me focus on getting customers to buy rather than on getting customers to fall in love. If I give away 50 books and my sales ranking drops like a stone, I'm still better off because, in the long run, I'm gaining readers and that is what will generate W.O.M.

My ultimate goal is to hear one kid say to another kid--"You have to read this book!"

We have to get out into the world. We have to face booksellers and customers fully-dressed, live and in person! I have been marketing in my P.J.'s for too long! It's stale and stagnant and discouraging. My brother released a CD recently and he's in the same boat as I. We have to pound the pavement, play gigs (signings and speaking for authors), show off our product to anyone who's interested, sell out of our trunk--you get the idea! The average indie book sells 75 copies and 95% of traditionally published books don't sell out the author advance. We have to work to beat the odds!

Get creative about your book. What is the subject matter? How can you pair your book with store owners, local events, charities, or other professionals? We're writers! We're actually natural-born marketers. We know how to spin a sentence to attain a desired effect--that's advertising! We're Don Draper's dream team! We may not excel at math (okay, I'm speaking for myself), but we excel at ideas, imagination, dreams, and the art of evoking emotion in others. Tap into this and apply it to selling your book. Once your book builds momentum, you won't be able to stop it!

What have you done to generate W.O.M.? Please share your ideas at The Jennifer (Author) Diaries!

To Do: Brainstorm and make a marketing plan to generate W.O.M. 

Read my post HERE on formatting your paperback!

Click HERE for advice on creating a best-selling book cover

Read HERE about why I decided to hire help for my book cover and editing.

11 Tips for Maximizing A Goodreads Giveaway

I am back, I'm marketing The Pet Washer again! My new edition has been released and the universe is ready to receive me! I had sales in the US and the UK last night. This morning I was ranked in the top 100 on Amazon in my sub-categories under childrens ebooks. Yeee Haaaaw, I might just have to saddle up my horse and ride into the sunset tonight!

Well, that's probably premature. Instead I will share with you 11 plus tips on running a Goodreads Giveaway with maximum results. You can read the article I read HERE for an in depth explanation. It was authored by Emlyn Chand, the president of Novel Publicity. I will give you a brief teaser of what you'll learn in her article.

11 Tips to Maximize Your Goodreads Giveaway!

1. You only need to offer one copy (unless your budget allows more)
2. Make it an autographed copy (in all caps)
3. Choose to end your Giveaway on a low-traffic day
4. Offer it to all countries for the most exposure 
5. Use your reviews to pitch the reader
6. Congratulate the winner
7. Send the book promptly
8. Short giveaways pack more punch
9. Goodreads takes 1 to 2 days to approve the giveaway, so don't schedule it to start immediately--you lose time.
10. Books are judged on their covers--bring your best!
11. Become popular! The more reviews you get, the more "popular" you are, the more your Giveaway is promoted. 

I will add--if your book is done and you have a nice proof, but you haven't published yet, you can run an ARC giveaway (Advanced Review Copy). Readers love to win ARC's. It creates a buzz and you can run it for just two days (because I know you can't wait to publish your new book!)

She also didn't mention THE WIDGET! Goodreads provides the HTML for a lovely widget to promote your giveaway on your website/blog. I posted my above. You can ask your friends to post one too. I also added a link to the contest on my Facebook pages.

I will be running Goodreads Giveaways often. I won't always make a big deal out of them with my friends, or on my site, and I'll be careful not to overdo it on Goodreads, but it's advertising that I feel good about. Why? It's free for me to implement and it offers a gift to others. It's the definition of a win-win!

And now you have two ways to win my new edition of The Pet Washer--name my fish, or enter on Goodreads--or both! Over 40 people have named my fish already between FB, KDP, and my blog--I would love to hear your ideas! Leave a name in the comments below and I'll enter you to win a $10 Amazon card and a copy of the new edition of The Pet Washer! (winners announced 08/01/12 on my blog).



 To Do: Set up your Goodreads Giveaway today! 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Pet Washer

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Giveaway ends July 27, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Authors: Help Me Help You!

You may have noticed the new graphic on my sidebar. I will be a stop on author Molly Snow's "Royally Beswitched" blog tour! Molly helped me with my very first speaking engagement. I was asking for advice at an online author community when she chimed in and encouraged me to try it, gave me tips, and even wrote a guest post on how to speak for this blog! She went on to give me a free copy of her book and she has remained in touch.

This is what life is all about, helping each other. All the best principals in life make no sense. You must give to receive, the last shall be first, blessed are those who mourn, failure breeds success, no pain, no gain, the best way to lose weight is to eat more often, turn the other cheek, and I could go on. It's upside down thinking.

The reason to help others is not to help yourself. It should come from a genuine desire to see abundance in the lives of others. I don't believe helping others succeed will rob me of my own success. I don't believe helping others turn a profit will mean there is no money left for me. My worldview is that helping others makes the universe a better place to live for everyone. 

I am happy to promote authors. The following are the types of help I'm able to offer you. I'm also open to your ideas. This blog is about promoting The Pet Washer, but it's grown to include your books too. All my promotions are free, aside from sidebar advertising (unless it's an advertisement like Molly's for a blog tour).

• Author Interviews
• Guest Posts on the industry
• Book Tour Stops
• Website Promotion 
• WIP Excerpts
• Cover Reveals
• Book Giveaways
• New Book Releases 

My audience consists mostly of authors, but who in the world are the most avid readers? My guess is authors. So we're both--we write and we read. You can promote your books here to readers and get to know other authors at the same time.

But keep in mind that my audience is also looking for tips and encouragement about publishing. The most popular posts on my blog are posts that give advice. This is why my author interviews focus on book marketing and publishing rather than how authors' spend their Sundays. I want to pick your brain! I want you to share what you know, what you've learned, when you've failed, and when you've succeeded.

To Do: Help me help you. Contact me!

Click HERE to contact me by email!

Making The Most of Amazon eBook Categories

When I published The Pet Washer ebook on Amazon back in November, I was asked to choose categories. Once again, I thought I knew what I was doing and I didn't.

I chose general categories believing I was casting a wider net. Really, I was sealing my fate to remain unnoticed. In a large general category like childrens ebooks (of which there are 64,000), I have to sell a lot of copies to make the top 100. Even when I select childrens ebooks/animals, there are 7,900 ebooks. However, if I select childrens ebooks/animals/pets, there are only 344 ebooks. I can compete with that number!

I changed my categories and by narrowing them, I have broadened my range and increased my chances of being found by customers. I am still under childrens ebooks, still under animals, but now I am also under pets. I owe this realization to Ken Foley, author of Adventures in Kindergarten! I am fortunate to have authors who help me like I try to help you. We can and should work together.

Amazon rankings change hourly. Yesterday, The Pet Washer made the top ten list under pets. That ranking did not show on my page, but it showed when I performed a search. Today I have dropped. This isn't a perfect system, but it's best to choose the right categories to maximize your exposure.

To Do: Explore the categories on Amazon to the minutia. Make sure you are searching ebooks at the kindle store and not books. What I am writing about today only applies to ebooks published through KDP. Figure out which sub-categories at the kindle store bring up books most similar to yours. Then go to your bookshelf and edit your book details. Find the corresponding categories and select them. There are more categories to choose from than meets the eye. For instance, pets doesn't come up until I click on animals first. Take time to explore every potential category and sub-category.Good luck and  may the odds be ever in your favor!

Day 121--Selling Your eBook on Goodreads

Did you know that Goodreads sells ebooks? I discovered this feature about two weeks ago. Goodreads' authors can access this feature.

Go to Author Tools and Click on Upload eBook and follow the directions. Authors set their own prices and limit how much of the book can be read for free as a sample. I set my sample at 20% and I set the price to match Amazon's sale price of $2.99.

eBooks for sale are uploaded as .epub files. This was easy for me. I went to my Smashwords account where I can download my own ebook for free in almost any kind of file, including .epub. I downloaded it, saved it, then uploaded it to Goodreads.

Now if you click on The Pet Washer, readers have the option to purchase my book from online stores or directly from Goodreads to any kind of ereading device or app. Payment is made through Paypal. If you don't have a Paypal account, you can open one for free. Goodreads pays a 70% royalty.

Caveats:

Once one person buys your book, you are not permitted to delete or upload a revised copy.

You must upload in .epub to sell the book. If you want to make if available for free, you can upload a ,pdf file.

Books are DRM Free.

Your file must be less than 50MB.

The site says it takes 1 to 2 hours to process the ebook, but it took two weeks before my book was processed and available for sale.

To Do: Check out Goodreads and consider making your book for sale there. I believe in making my book as prevalent and easy to purchase as possible.

Authors, Timing Your Book's Release

I published The Pet Washer as an ebook in November of 2011 and as a paperback in December 2011. I wanted the book to be out in time for Christmas. From a sales perspective, this wasn't horrible timing and December remains my best month for sales, but in every other way, the timing could not have been worse.

My 2011 book was only "new" for about 45 days. As soon as 2012 hit, my book, like a racehorse, turned one year old. This has limited me.

Contests--The Pet Washer is already disqualified for most writing contests. Entries are closed for books published in 2011. Well, I double blew-it because some entries closed around March. I was so busy writing Dead Girls Don't Cry, that I didn't think about entering The Pet Washer into contests until I sent my new book off to the editor. Then it was too late.

Lists--All the lists are coming out for Books of 2011, not to mention Summer Reading lists and The Pet Washer isn't on any of them. All of this publicity is arranged months in advance. When you publish so late, you lose a lot of lead time.

The good news is that I have found a few contests I can still enter, but the prestigious ones are mostly closed to me. It's all right, I'm learning and my book stands a better chance in the smaller contests anyway. I have learned a valuable lesson for my future books--Timing is Everything!

Day 118--Using Amazon's Listmania to Promote Your Books!

Listmania is a powerful tool you can use to promote your book.Go to your Amazon profile page (not Author Central!) to create your list. Anyone registered with Amazon can create a list for any type of product. 

Click on create a list and then add books more popular than your own from your genre. Write an interesting or catchy title, be sure to add your own book to the list, and hit publish! It's that simple.

When customers search Amazon for a book that happens to be on your list, your own title is supposed to appear as well. I only created a list today so I can't judge how well it works yet. The one thing I do know is that it can't hurt! The Listmania list you create is it's own website with it's own url. It can also show up on internet searches outside of Amazon. It provides yet another link back to your book and that is never a bad thing!

Here is my list titled. "20 New and Classic eBooks For Your Child Aged 7-11" 

To Do: Create a Listmania! list for your genre today!

Are Your Links Linkable?

I made a major error today in my monthly email newsletter. After getting everyone all excited about a new book (not mine) I blew it on the link to the author's interview. This is my headline story and I flubbed it. Will anyone trust the rest of the links in my newsletter? Ugh!

I need to follow my own advice and double check every clickable link before I publish a newsletter or a blog post.

For any of you here because of the newsletter, here is the link to the interview for Lies Beneath!

I apologize for creating more steps for my readers. I consider this a major blunder and it's because I rushed things. They say busyness is the death of kindness, but I say busyness is the death of details!

Click here to read my May newsletter!

I continue to be thrilled with my email software program Vertical Response. Every author should have an email database and a monthly newsletter in my opinion. Check mine out to see how awesome the templates are at VR. I sent this to 175 people and it only cost me $2.63. I don't have to worry about annoying anyone because of the unsubscribe feature. Love it!

To Do: Create an email list and update your contacts with your projects and even those of others. It's fun! Just remember to check your links!!

UPDATE: I am saved! Vertical Response allows me to edit my linkable URL's after the fact! The link is faulty, but seems to be working half of the time!! It's better than nothing and it's rare in life to get a second chance :)

Day 114--Utilizing Pinterest As A Book Storyboard

I have discovered a crazy, fun way for authors to utilize Pinterest, one of the fastest growing social sites on the web. Pinterest is image based and I'm a writer. It took me awhile to figure out how to marry the two mediums. 

I started with a "Hot Book Cover" board. It's fun and I pinned my new book cover, but I didn't see it getting me anywhere fast in regards to book promotion.

However, my eyes are opening to the potential of Pinterest. Do you see your characters in your head? Do you visualize the scenes? I'm guessing you do. Pin them! I created a Pinterest storyboard for my new novel, Dead Girls Don't Cry. Not only does it bring my readers into my head, it brings my novel out of my head. I went to Google images and pinned photos that look like my characters and a few teaser scenes from the book.

I've decided that Pinterest storyboards are the poor man's version of book video trailers! Readers can get a feel for my book at a glance. A writer's job is to show, not tell. What better way to show than through images?

From looking at my storyboard, it's obvious to my readers that most of my characters are teens, interesting things are happening to girls underwater, there are villains and intrigue, a little romance and the setting is high school. I added a little caption for each character and scene to give a taste and to show how they fit in with each other. I had a lot of fun creating the board and I'm going to keep adding to it. Most of the captions quotes from the book!

A picture is worth a thousand words, check out my storyboard on Pinterest!  

To Do: Create a Pinterest storyboard for a published work or a WIP. Have fun and share it with the world!

Day 113--Maximizing Your Email Signature

Most, if not all, email platforms offer email "signatures". These are pre-set footers you can customize and attach to all your outgoing emails.

This is built-in advertising you don't have to think about or pay for. Everyone you email every day will know you wrote a book or have an author blog! Repetition builds curiosity and curiosity can lead to sales and continued free promotion through word of mouth.

Maximizing the Email Signature in Three Easy Steps

1. Decide what you want to promote--your book, your website, or your Amazon product page for instance.
2. Add text to describe what you are promoting i.e., "Please visit my author website for news about my latest book, The Wishing Star." or "Find my book on sale at Amazon today." or "Let's be friends on Goodreads." Then add the link.
3. Preview your signature from another computer. Please don't skip this step! My signature has been set up incorrectly for years. I had chosen a fancy font and colors and, while I could read it from my computer, it looked like Greek or Russian or Arabic on other computers. I had no idea the intrigue I was creating until a fellow blogger pointed it out to me. I appeared to be some kind of double agent, writing in English and sending messages in other languages. Exciting! Maybe. Smart marketing, not so much.

This is my current signature. 

Please visit my author blog to follow my progress and to read interviews with other authors!
The Jennifer (Author ) Diaries, wwwjenniferlynnalvarez.com
"A 366 Day Challenge to Break Out of My Inner Circle!"

Please use the Help feature on your email platform if you don't know how to access and customize your email signature!

To Do: Use your free email signature to promote yourself today!

Day 111--Apple for Authors: The iGeneration

My son is fourteen years old. A few days ago, he asked me if he could buy a book for his ipod touch. He'd never asked for a book before, only music. Curious, I pulled up the book, and while I was at Apple's iTunes store, I saw my own book The Pet Washer. I knew my book was listed through Apple, but I had never looked at it.

Why? Probably because I'm 41. Almost all of my friends use Kindle's if they use any ereader at all. My son told me that his friends use their iPods to read. In this Game of Thrones, who will win? While the Kindle might be in the lead for ereaders, I believe more people collectively own iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Until Kindles can make phone calls, they don't stand a chance of winning this Game. The current frontrunner to effectively create and market the perfect sized device that does everything, is Apple.

I have not done market research on this theory. It's a personal observation based on my "older" friends and my son's "younger" friends. As the new generation comes up, the market will accommodate them. I don't think it's wise to put all of my eggs in any one basket. The Pet Washer is at Apple, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other online stores. It can be read on any device in the world, but trust me, I don't underestimate the power of Amazon. 

I don't know who will win the Game of Thrones--but I do know that, no matter who wins, my book will be for sale there!

To Do: Publish Everywhere!

Networking With Authors

I am excited! An author I connected with online (though we have a mutual friend) has invited me to be her guest at a writer's luncheon in San Francisco today.

We will be meeting for the first time at her house and driving to the luncheon together. I don't know a lot of details and I haven't asked because, no matter what happens, today will be interesting! Today is full of unknowns and I'm not in control of it. Sometimes it's refreshing to do something completely different and to accept an opportunity when it is offered.

This author is friends with one of my very best friends and supporters. I will ask her today if I can mention her name and interview her on this blog. Perhaps, on our long drive, I will begin the interview!! You know I will be grilling her anyway, right? When I get my hands on an author, my primary focus is to unpack them, reap their wisdom and then put them back together :)

The luncheon is being hosted by Hedgebrook, an elite women's writing community. There will be speakers to further educate me about writing and maybe publishing. I don't know the topics yet, but I don't care. They are speaking about writing in one form or another! 

I'm excited because, before the sun sets on today, I will know more than I do right now about my profession. Today is a gift. In Traci Tyne Hilton's interview yesterday, she wrote that her number one book marketing strategy is networking.

I won't be pitching The Pet Washer today, but I may meet someone or learn something that will launch me to the next level. And it may not happen today, it may happen three years from now. It may not happen at all, but if I keep networking, I keep learning! It's all good.

To Do: Connect with people in the writing/publishing industry! Attend conferences and luncheons. Most successful authors attribute their rise to networking.