Using Google Alerts to Track Book Coverage

Are you signed up to receive Google Alerts for your book’s title? It’s a great way to stay on top of where your book is mentioned and to see what kind of coverage you are getting on the internet.

For example, Playing with the Enemy author Gary Moore came across a mention of his book in Publishers Weekly here. He probably would not have come across this if not for Google Alerts. Moore constantly stays on top of where his book appears on the web so he can then post a “thank you” on the blogs of people who mention his book, find new reviews of his book posted on Amazon and forums, and find book blurbs and articles as well. It also comes in handy when trying to track sales patterns. If you see a spike on Amazon or sales on your book’s website, you might be able to trace it back to an article in a local newspaper or review on a popular book blog.

You can choose how often you want to receive updates (instantly, daily, etc.), change what phrases you include (the book’s main title, or the main title and the subtitle together), and monitor multiple titles.

Have a great weekend!

Book Marketing Newsletters – Blog Tips from Author Marketing Experts, Inc.

I receive a lot of newsletters via email regarding publishing, independent publishing, and book marketing. The one put out by Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is consistently one of the best, with tips that authors and publishers can implement in every single issue. Thanks Penny Sansevieri! Today’s newsletter, titled “Seven Powerful Ways to Find New Readers for Your Blog,” contained some great blogging tips. I am including a portion of the newsletter here:

Seven Powerful Ways to Find New Readers for your Blog

It's one thing to have a blog, it's quite another to get readers. If you have a blog and have been blogging for a while you know what I mean. I was thrilled the first time someone commented on a blog post I made. A la Sally Field I wanted to jump off my chair and yell: "Yes, you like me, you really like me."

It can be a lonely journey to start a blog but once you do, you'll find that blogging can bring great value to whatever you're promoting. Your book, message or product can be greatly enhanced by the platform you create online. Now, it's just a question of finding readers and (of course) keeping them. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1) Write good blog headings: stay away from mysterious, nebulous blog titles. No one will read them and search engines can't spider them effectively. Be specific, tell what your blog is about in the title. Surprises aren't a good thing when it comes to blog titles.

2) Keep blogging - even if you don't think people are reading keep writing, eventually if you blog right readers will beat a path to your door.

3) Give away stuff: yes, it's ok to promote free stuff on your blog. Don't do it all the time but every now and again free stuff is a good thing!

4) Add your blog to your email signature line: this is a pretty simple way to gain exposure. Every time an email goes out you're promoting your blog, what could be easier!

5) Comment on other blogs: a great way to network with other bloggers is to comment on what they're doing/saying on their own blogs. Make cyber-friends, lots of them.

6) Invite people to guest blog or interview them: they'll promote the interview on their blog and this will help you get readers and expand your network. These interviews also make for great content.

7) Don't be afraid to state your opinion: your blog is your opportunity to get center stage with something that's important to you. State your opinion, you may be surprised at how many people agree with you.

There are, of course, dozens more ways to get readers to your blog and keep them there. These seven will get you started and keep the momentum going. Remember that while blogging may seem like a lonely way to promote yourself, blogs get picked up by search engines, and sometimes even media sites (like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times) so the benefits to starting and keeping a blog are enormous. If you feel like no one's reading you might be surprised. One day you'll get a notice that someone liked a post enough to comment on it. When that happens, you have my permission to be thrilled. Yes, they really like you.

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

I found these simple tips helpful, and have suggested some of them to our authors many times. (I don’t know how many times I’ve repeated the signature info in Number 4!) I know a number of our authors have recently entered the blogosphere and I hope you find these useful. Every author should subscribe to The Book Marketing Expert newsletter for more great tips.

Making Yourself Available to Potential Buyers

Most of our authors have a website, which is great. Those who don’t are missing out on a large market. Most of those authors with websites have “Contact” pages with an email address so viewers (and potential book buyers!) checking out their site can ask questions. (How many lesson plans does the Common Sense book include? If I place an order for your books today, will they arrive before I leave for basic training next week?!, etc.)

In today’s technology-driven world, people are always looking for ways to connect, and quickly. Many websites I visit now have Skype buttons on their website so you can place a phone call over the internet.

Basic Training author Mike Volkin recently put a similar feature on his website here. It’s a Call Me button available from Grand Central Station. A potential customer can leave him a message which is emailed to him in .wav format. It’s a great way to put him in touch with his customer base and, most importantly, help sell more books.

Authors with websites, add this type of feature to your site. Authors without websites, get a website and then add this feature. =)

p.s. I wrote this blog post in a Word file, copied the text, and signed into my Blogger account to post it. When I logged onto the Blogger member homepage, there was a large article about Grand Central and adding the Call Me button to your website and blog. One of those instances where you see or hear about something once and then it starts popping up all over!

Planning Ahead – Battling the Weather

Tomorrow night, Playing with the Enemy author Gary Moore will be speaking to the Shreveport Bar Foundation in Shreveport, Louisiana. We’ve been planning this event since the beginning of October. Gary was supposed to fly to the event from Chicago (Tuesday’s forecast in Chicago: snow) tomorrow morning to speak to a few hundred people at the dinner tomorrow evening. A snow storm is hitting the Chicago area tomorrow and we feared that Gary’s flight out of Midway airport could be delayed or even canceled. This would be disastrous for the event coordinators and Gary, who has a whole Louisiana tour planned this week. Gary thought ahead, bumped his flight up to tonight, and will arrive a day early. The Shreveport Bar is more than relieved to have Gary safely in Shreveport, Louisiana (Tuesday’s forecast in Shreveport: sunny) one day prior to the event. Always keep unknowns such as weather and travel conditions in mind when planning an event. These last minute unknowns can ruin months of careful planning.

Scheduling Events

Civil War News put out a great supplement section to their January 2008 issue titled “Calendar of 2008 Events.” Just as it sounds, it contains information on events throughout the year including date, location, description, contact info, and a website url. We’re using this section to plug our Civil War authors into book signing events and panel discussions at various events throughout the country. Luckily a number of our authors live close enough to these events that they can easily make the drive in a day trip.

Is there a similar type of calendar listing for your book’s genre? There are hundreds of Revolutionary War and Civil War events and reenactments that feature book signing events. Or is there a local author day at your library? Do some research and find out. Whether in print or digital form, find a list of upcoming events in your area that you could attend and contact the event coordinator about your interest. Or, tell your publisher where you will be and when (whether traveling for business or pleasure) and see what events you can latch onto. With spring just around the corner and the summer tourist season right after, it’s a great way to sell copies of your book during the busy season.

Author website photos

Sorry for my extended absence. Refer to Ted’s recent post regarding THE MOVE. (I officially hate AT&T as much as he does.)

We had three books come out last week, The Wars Against Napoleon, Surviving Military Separation, and The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine. Whew!

The illustrator for Surviving Military Separation, Val Laolagi, lives locally in El Dorado Hills. He stopped by the day the books arrived and we took some pictures of him with the book for our website. We currently have pictures of all of our authors in the Authors section, and are working on some sections of book signing events. Playing with the Enemy author Gary Moore has a great page on his website dedicated to past events complete with photos and captions of all who attended.

Do you have a photo of yourself with your book? If so, email it to your publisher and have them post it on their website.

Anyway, I’m back and won’t be absent for such a long stretch of time again. Have a great week!

Submitting Content Opportunities – Beyond the Bookstore Example

One of my favorite industry-related books is Beyond the Bookstore by Brian Jud. It helps publishers and authors who understand and appreciate that “the worst place to sell a book is a bookstore” determine other possible sales outlets.

I heard Mr. Jud speak at Book Expo America last year and also enjoy reading his Special Sales Newsletter. In an e-newsletter last month, the author mentioned that he is working on a second edition of Beyond the Bookstore and asked for Special Sales success stories from readers he could include as examples. We have a good amount of success in this area so I told him about our success working with Civil War Preservation Trust. Here’s a brief run down: Because our general and military history titles appeal to such a niche audience, we are always looking for ways we can sell books outside of the book trade. Over the years we have developed a good relationship with Civil War Preservation Trust, the largest non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields. They frequently focus on obtaining donations for a battlefield that is in particular need of protection by offering a premium to those who make a donation. We stay in constant communication with CWPT so we know what battlefield they will be raising money for next. If we have a book on our backlist or coming down the pipeline that details that particular battle, we let them know they can offer a copy of the book as a premium to whoever makes a donation.

We have done this successfully with a number of our titles such as Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg and Chicago's Battery Boys: The Chicago Mercantile Battery in the Civil War's Western Theater. CWPT tells us how many copies they are interested in buying and we work out a discount based on that number. We have even timed the premium to coincide with the release date of a paperback version of a title. We latch their order onto our print run which brings our printing cost down. We try to provide the organization with something special to entice their members to want to donate and receive a copy of our books. Often we have the author sign bookplates which they include with every book.

I told Brian Jud that this is a great way Savas Beatie can work with an organization we support, help spread the word about our books to our target audience, and sell copies we wouldn't have sold in the book trade.

Mr. Jud wrote back, thanked me for the info, and said he would include it in the next edition of Beyond the Bookstore! That’s definitely a good reason to add the second edition to our bookshelf. =)

I frequently come across opportunities like this. Authors looking for content for their books. Journalists looking for information for an article they are working on. Editors gathering content for their newsletter or journal. Answering requests like this by offering your ideas and examples only takes a few minutes and can pay off in terms of exposure.