Internationally bestselling author M.J. Rose serves up some sage advice in the latest edition of Writer’s Digest. In her article Why Authors Must Be Marketers Too she rightly points out that writing the book isn’t the end of the road for writers. It is the beginning of the journey. You have to pimp your own book. You have to pimp yourself. There were over 400,000 books that made it to market last year in this country alone. You have to make your own space on the shelves (real and/or virtual). If you don’t want to market your book (and I’ve talked with authors who don’t), fine, but be prepared to not sell any books. It’s as simple as that. Or as M.J. Rose puts it:

Some authors are good at self-promotion and others shouldn’t bother. You have to figure out what you want to do, what you can do and what you can’t. You have to figure out if you want to promote your own book or if you want to hire someone else to do it for you. Or you can take your chances and do nothing.

I can tell you that it will take a miracle for you to find a spot in the market if you do nothing.

I’m a big fan of using video to sell your books.  Here’s a clip I found on Youtube that explains the Web 2.0 and using video to sell your product.  It comes from a company called YouInc marketing

Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards

“Celebrating youthful curiosity, discovery and learning through books and reading.”

• Entry now open - Just $95 per category until August 15th
• New categories include Children’s Poetry, Environmental Issues and Spanish Language Book

Click here to download complete guidelines and entry form:
http://www.moonbeamawards.com/MoonbeamGuidelines.pdf

Announcing the call for entries into the second annual Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards www.MoonbeamAwards.com, designed to honor the year’s best children’s books, authors and illustrators. The new book awards program is accepting entries until August 16th, 2008 for books with 2007 or 2008 copyrights or that were released in 2007 or 2008, and is open to authors, illustrators, and publishers of children’s books written in English and intended for the North American market.

Presented by Jenkins Group and IndependentPublisher.com, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. Awards will be given in 30 categories covering the full range of subjects, styles and age groups that children’s books are written and published in today.

“The inaugural Moonbeam Awards were a huge success, says Jim Barnes, Awards Director at Jenkins Group. “We had a great turnout of support from the children’s book publishing community, and we’re going to make this year’s awards even better. Last year we recognized a wonderfully diverse group of authors and publishers, from first-timers to seasoned veterans, and the award-winners make up an amazing ‘must-read’ list of books for kids. 

Click here to view last year’s results, photos, etc: http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1192

Jenkins Group has been involved in book packaging, marketing and distribution since 1988, and many of its founders and employees now have children and grandchildren who strongly influence the company culture with their youthful exuberance and love of books.

                                   

“We all have kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, and we all recognize the role books play in enriching children’s lives, says company founder Jerrold Jenkins, father of four children ranging from ages 5 to 15. “As our society has gotten more complex and growing up has become more complicated, children’s book authors and publishers have risen to the occasion, creating books that not only celebrate the joys of childhood, but also help families deal with its challenges. We want to recognize and reward the best of these books and bring them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians – and to the kids themselves.

Click here to enter online:
http://www.moonbeamawards.com/entry.php

Click here to download complete guidelines and entry form:
http://www.moonbeamawards.com/MoonbeamGuidelines.pdf

To learn more about the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards visit www.MoonbeamAwards.com

Questions? Contact Jim Barnes, Awards Director
email: jimb@bookpublishing.com
phone: 1.800.644.0133 x1011

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Jenkins Group Inc.  -  1129 Woodmere Ave, Ste B  -  Traverse City, MI 49686  -  231.933.0445

Blogopreneur and Scifi guy, John Scalzi recently examined what he calls the “Big Post,” that one post that for some inexplicable reason draws traffic to your blog. What is it? How do you write it? Why not make every post the “Big Post?” As he explains, the writer doesn’t determine what becomes the “Big Post.” It’s up to the blogosphere. As Scalzi says, the key is to take advantage of the “Big Post” when it comes along. How? Here’s what Scalzi says:

What you do is what you should be doing anyway: writing interesting stuff on a regular basis. That way, when lightning does strike, and the curious new reader looks around to see what else you’ve got, you have stuff that will make them realize the Big Post that got their attention wasn’t just a one-time fluke. The Big Posts bring them in, and that’s their value; it’s everything else you’ve got that keeps them coming back, and that’s the value of the blog as a whole. Jot that down, folks.

Not everything you’re going to write is going to be interesting. You’ll find your groove eventually and write more interesting stuff than not, but until then, you should make up for your inexperience by updating your blog frequently. At the very least, post a message a day. I don’t do that here, but I do on my personal site. I’ve decided to make this blog topic specific, book marketing. I try to update the blog once or twice a week, but on my R.W. Ridley blog, I update 6-7 times a week. My traffic is about ten times greater on that blog as opposed to this blog.

You can read Scalzi’s blog post on blogging here: The Difference a “Big Post” Makes

Author and blogger Dennis Cass has launched a new project/blog to help people like you and me reach our most awesome potentiality. He gives advice on writing, publishing, marketing, blogging, what wine goes with what, etc. I’m a fan of Dennis’ Book Launch 2.0. He’s clearly a creative guy, and his blog is fun to read. His new blog is Dennis Cass Wants You To Be More Awesome: Maximize Your Talent. Minimize Your Suffering.

Don’t forget to check out Dennis’ book Head Case: How I Almost Lost My Mind Trying to Understand My Brain

Note: I’m not really sure if Dennis gives wine advice, but all the other stuff is true.

Robert T. Kiyosaki is the first self-published author to make the New York Times Bestseller list.  He is an incredible success because he realized that promoting the book took as much effort on his part as writing the book.  He did an interview with Publisher Weekly’s Sara Nelson recently and revealed some of his secrets.  It is well worth watching.

Rich Author: Robert T. Kiyosaki

Our friend and fellow Indie author, Eric D. Knapp is dishing out pearls of wisdom for other indie authors on how to get noticed. My favorite pearl? Has to be number four:

4. Fire Teasers, aka: Fighting Fire with Fire

Is it too over-the-top to dress up in (mostly) fireproof armor and fight for my life, just to promote my book? Absolutely not. The “feathers” are reinforced scales, which will (hopefully) be strong enough to stop the 200g pyrotechnics that will be used in the upcoming Armored Combat Suit League of New England (ACSLNE) championships. The event will be covered by the media, and if I’m wounded, the newscast of me being air-lifted to the emergency room will double as promotional footage. Didn’t I tell you that being an Indie was tough?

I’m gullible enough to believe there is such a thing as the ACSLNE.

Do yourself a favor and check out the rest of Eric’s list of sure fire ways to promote your book here:

Short of winning a Nobel Prize in Literature: Getting Noticed

I went to BEA this weekend and got the chance to meet a lot of great people in the industry.  One you’ve heard me talk about frequently - John Scalzi.  Scalzi is a bogging pioneer, and a great writer to boot.  He was on a panel at BEA discussing the virtues of blogging and building an online community. Here’s an excerpt from a write up I pulled from Galleycat on the panel.

Everybody agreed about the importance of enabling a community/fan culture with “shared common goals,” perhaps even “a sense of family,” to emerge from the site.

You can read the entire article here: BookExpo: Generation X Is In the House

This may sound like a conversation some of you and I have had on the phone about marketing your book.  I think this is too funny. 

The authors name is Dennis Cass.   Checkout his book Head Case: How I Almost Lost My Mind Trying to Understand My Brain