Jeff Rivera: Need help getting an agent? We'll help you craft the perfect query letter and send it to the right list of agents. We guarantee you will receive at least 10 reputable and legitimate literary agents requesting your work or your money back. Contact: gumbomarketing@gmail.com for more information.
Step 4 - On this myspace page you want to including your mailing address of where people can send money to buy books. You want to include your email address. Compelling info on yourself that would make them want to buy and a synopsis that would make them want to buy.
Keep the graphics down to a bare minimum because you don't want it to take forever to load up. The picture you use as your main picture should be the cover of your book.
Spend 1 full day or spare time and add at least 100 friends. Go to myspace page for BrownPride.com or SoyChicano.com or someone else that has the same demographic.
Once you get your first 100 usually more will trickle in. You want to make a brief comment on each of your 100 friends, something you can cut & paste but is personally (don't ever advertise your book it'll turn people off) talk to the friend about THEM and what they're interested. By making a comment on their page other people will see it and go to your page.
Step 5 - Genaro, create a publishing name that is separate from your author name because you want the APPEARANCE of a big company. The company should end in the name BOOKS or PUBLISHING not LLC or INC. whatever. For example Flower House Books, or Bum Fuck Publishing, whatever.
You want to get a mailing address separate from your house (cause people WILL show up at your house and you don't want that.) If you can afford a mail box etc. get it because you'll have a street address otherwise for about $20 or less every six months get a P.O. Box. Make it a positive thing on your site, not available in bookstores! can only purchase through this website or direct mail.
Step 6 - Sign up for paypal it's free so that you can sell your book directly online. Go to PayPal.com to sign up.
Step 7 - Go to Bravenet.com and sign up for their opt-in mailing list program, it's free and you'll need it to build your list of emails. You can cut and paste the code and add it to your myspace page.
You can do a giveaway contest in which people must enter their email addresses in order to enter to win whatever you need to do in order to get people to enter their email addresses. You'll need these later for this book and your future books.
Step 8 - You're going to drive everyone to your website page. In a nutshell here are a few things that you can do:
1) Create an email that is something like XXXXX@yahoo.com. If you have Yahoo email, go to the Option Page and click on Signature and type in a signature something to the effect of "XXXXX, Author of SILLY KITTENS: A Adventures and then a link to your website" Keep it simple.
If you have your cover you can past that cover in the signature too, which is even better. It has it's drawbacks though cause some people cannot receive or see emails with HTML graphics on it but most people can. Now every email you send out whether it's related to the book or not people will see that on the bottom of the email. No reason to mention your book though people WILL notice it and they WILL click on the link to go to your page.
2) Whenever you post on message boards create a similar signature with a link to your site. NEVER mention your writing just comment as many times as you can in different posts and people will notice and they will click. Of course if they specifically ask you about it then you can tell them, direct them to your website which will have your mailing address so they can send you money to buy the book.
You're not set up yet to do bookstores and won't be until you sell the first 100 or so books so that you have enough money to do what you'll need to do. In the case of myspace you might want to also add your myspace link in your signature even though they're the exact same page. Make sure you change your graphic avantar to the cover of your book too.
3) Articles, write as many short articles as you can. At least 10 about 200-300 words long (probably about 1/2 page to page long) on things related to your book. At the bottom of the article will be a link to your site. (these will be posted in message boards, forums, article submitting and places like AmericanChronicle.com which I suggest you sign up for as a regular contributor because it posts it on Google News and tons of reporters go there to check on stories) They could be articles or general opinion articles about the top stories of the day.
You're considered an expert because you're a former corrections officer so you can comment on any stories related to crime or prisoners or any angle no matter how far it is. For example if you go to Google News and see there's lots of stories on IPods you can write a short article on how as a corrections officer an IPod can be used to stop crime or whatever. Lots of opportunities there. The more your name is out there with your signature and live link the more people will go to your site and buy your book).
Those are the top ways to get your name out ther and most of them don't cost you a penny, just your time.
Step 9 - By now you've raised about $400 which you can use to do guess what? Buy more books! With that money you'll be able to buy at least $200 books and you'll probably get a reduction in price if you buy over 100 books at a time through NetPub. (rhellman@netpub.net) Notice: NEVER give out free books not even to your own mother, they should support you.
You're not in the position to give out free books yet until you have at least 100 books printed and even then you'll only give away 5-10 to people who promise to lead to more sales (owners of forums, book club leaders, etc.) At this point this is when you're going to go full force promoting on online through your message board postings, articles, etc. And you're going to begin going on the road.
Step 10 - You'll need to go to the Bowker website and get an ISBN number. 1 number will be about $130. You'll need this in order to get on Amazon.com. Once you have the number you'll need to sign up for the Amazon.com marketplace, the vendor and the referral program.
You'll have people referred to your marketplace page where you can send books to them directly and you'll make more money this way than the normal way in which Amazon will ask you to send 2-3 books to them to start and as they sell they'll ask you to send more. However, they take about 40-50% of the money right off the top.
Through the marketplace you'll make most the money plus you'll get about $4 a book in shipping & handling costs. To save money on costs always mail your book MEDIA RATE when you go to the post office. It's much cheaper than 1st Class, although it can take a few days longer to arrive, it's worth it.
Note: One of the reason you don't want to sign up for any program like iUniverse or even Netpub's program NetSource is because when you start to deal with book companies they'll list you as "Pay on Demand" you don't want that because they won't often stock the book in their stores, they'll only order it as people order it.
Step 11 - Once you have your ISBN number you'll have no problem getting your book in your local stores. Don't try to get it in the national chains quite yet, prove yourself locally. You might be able to get your book in a local Barnes & Noble or Borders but more than likely you'll want to sell your book at the independent bookstores, barber shops, beauty salons, kiosks at malls and record stores to start.
You just bring a copy of your book to the owner/general manager, tell them you're a local author, what the books about and that you'd like to send customers to their store. Often times they'll take you on consignment which means they'll put the book in their stores and pay you when they get paid.
They'll often get 40% of the retail price and you'll keep 60% of it. You can start to see why people often prefer to sell the book directly but at least it'll be in stores and that's impressive to people.
Step 12 - The real way to make money is to speak and sell the book afterward. Remember you target market. Do they have associations or clubs call them up and offer to speak for free about being an author or about your expertise as a former corrections officer, it really doesn't matter what you speak about the point is afterward you'll make your book available for sale.
In my experience if you really inspire people and rile them up at least 80% of the people in the room will buy a book but park your table in front of the door so that they cannot leave without passing by you first and they'll feel obligated to buy.
Another selling point to tell them at the end of your speech is that you'll autograph copies for them. And if you're trying to raise money to help a particular charity they're very interested in helping with that especially if it has to do with children. Try also reaching local Rotary Clubs, Elks Clubs, Optimists Clubs, youth organizations, even churches. Try local high schools and colleges as well. Those are great outlets.
Lucky Step 13 - Contact your local media to let them know that you're speaking at these places. They love carrying local author stories. As you get more and more press locally you can bundle this together in a press kit and approach an even larger TV station or newspaper, until you've reached the national level.
Your goal should be to sell 10,000 books. And you'll do it one book at a time, it's a numbers game. Once you've done this in your local area meaning not only your city, but your county and your state, then you can approach an agent/editor tell them the stats and you bet your bottom dollar you can get it picked up by a publisher.
Jeff Rivera: If you need help with your book promotion contact gumbomarketing@gmail.com and we'll find a way to help you within your budget.
Jeff Rivera: If you need help with your book promotion contact gumbomarketing@gmail.com and we'll find a way to help you within your budget.
Jeff Rivera: If you need help with your book promotion contact gumbomarketing@gmail.com and we'll find a way to help you within your budget.
| What we can do to help? Whether you self-publish or traditionally publish you need to promote your book in order to get results. Most book publicity and online book promotional services cost a fortune. Who can afford to pay $2500-25,000 upfront when you're trying to figure out how to pay the rent? If you're a new author or a seasoned one you still need to get the word out there. There are so many ways to promote your book but what works? What doesn't? What should you put your time and money into? And what should you just forget about? SEO, landing pages, Key Word Rich text, RSS, CSS, HTML, XML, Blog Tours, feedburners, Web 2.0 -- if most of this sounds like gibberish to you then you need help. That's where we come in. We will customize an online promotional plan that works for you and your project in particular. We'll take that weight off your shoulders and collaborate with you and come up with a creative and effective way to promote your book. And here's the kicker -- we'll do it affordably. Option A You have two options either pay for the entire customize service upfront for $2600. This includes a customize online marketing plan that is tailored for your particular book. Paying upfront is convenient and you get $1000 off by doing it this way instead of the monthly payment plan. To see an example of a marketing plan we created for a client click here. Option B We know that some of you may gasp at paying $2600 upfront when you're trying to figure out how to pay your light bill. So, we offer a 12 month payment plan for $300/month. You'll receive the same quality service as you would if you chose Option A but in more convenient and affordable payments. No body else out there is going to offer you this type of payment opportunity for an online book promotion service, nobody. ____________________________________________________________ Jeff Rivera: If you need help with your book promotion contact gumbomarketing@gmail.com and we'll find a way to help you within your budget. |
Three years ago I set out on a dream to purposely be one of those rare writers who self-published a book and landed a deal with a major publisher, and I'm happy to say I achieved that goal. A lot of writers ask me if there was one thing I learned that I would advise them on achieving that goal too and I tell them GET THE RIGHT AGENT. The right agent can speed up the process tremendously. To give you an example, before I signed with Warner Books my manuscript had been rotting on their slush pile desk for 3 months. The moment I got an agent they read it over the weekend and had an offer within 7 days. Do you see my point? Editors receive hundreds and in some cases thousands of manuscripts a month. They need some way to cut down the process. They need someone with credibility to filter the manuscript and sift the wheat from the chaff, and that's one of the reasons they like to work with top agents. But how does a self-published author or any writer for that matter, get a top literary agent? Two words: a query letter. Not just any query letter, but one that is crafted in such a way that it presents you in the best light. A difference between a query letter you might get from reading a couple of books on query letters and one crafted by a professional can be the difference between signing a deal with a major publisher and getting a pile of rejection letters. After interviewing quite a few top agents, I really got inside the inner workings of an agent: what they look for, what they want to hear and what immediately turns them off. I started helping quite a few writers craft their query letters and found that I had a knack for it. So much so that every single author I ever helped had requests from top agents for their manuscript or self-published book. Most had at least 15 agents request their books some more than 80 agents. One even had 3 television producers offer her a deal without even reading the book, based on the query letter alone. Here are a few key things to remember when crafting your query letter: 1) Grab them from the first sentence. This can be in the form of a question, a logline or even the opening line introducing yourself. It can also be in the form of telling them who referred you. 2) Get to the point. The most successful query letters I've written for other authors are short. They are about 1/2 a page long. If you say too much you'll bore them, if you say too little you will not pique their interest. It has to be the right balance. 3) Remember agents, although often passionate about reading and books, are really only glorified sales people. Many do not make hourly wages or salary. They rely on 100% commission to put dinner on the table. So they need product, as much product as possible. 4) Here's something to think about. Most good agents don't want to sell just one book, they want someone who will stick by them and who want a long-term career. This doesn't mean you need to mention you have an 18-part series you've written but do let them know you want to work with them for the long term. 5) Stop thinking about your book as "art" or as your "baby" and start thinking about it as product that needs to be sold. 6) Think about what makes you different and special. Think about the "so what?" factor. Assume they've heard it all before (and they probably have). Is there something about your day job that makes you unique to write this particular book? What about where you grew up or how you grew up? Are you a teacher? A single father? A part time publicist? What about you makes you special? 7) Close your letter with a simple brief statement such as: "If you would like to see a copy of my book please feel free to contact me." And then leave your phone number and email address. Keep these tips in mind when crafting your query letter and you'll be leaps and bounds above the rest. ____________________________________________________________ Jeff Rivera: Need help getting an agent? We'll help you craft the perfect query letter and send it to the right list of agents. We guarantee you will receive at least 10 reputable and legitimate literary agents requesting your work or your money back. Contact: gumbomarketing@gmail.com for more information. |
There are a few things I've learned from helping so many authors get agents, and I have developed what I like to call the "10 Deadly Sins." Commit any of these sins in your query letter and you can kiss your shot at getting an agent goodbye. 1) Write a letter that's too long.-- Agents don't have time to read four-page query letters. You should be able to make your point in 1/2 page. If you can't grab them in 1/2 a page then some agents may think you won't be able to grab them in your manuscript either. 2) Come across cocky. -- There's a big difference between being comfortable in your own skin and masking your insecurities by dropping names or bragging about your accomplishments. There is nothing wrong with listing your relationships or your credentials if presented in a humble way. You want to always come across as easy to work with and cocky people are not attractive to a top agent. 3) Bad grammar and spell check. -- Grammar and spelling ain't my forte, as they say, but I do know this: although agents will forgive a few misspellings in a query letter, you should make it a point to double-check your letter and have an anal friend read through it to. A trick is to read the letter from the last sentence of your query letter to your first sentence in the letter aloud. It's amazing what you'll find. 4) Unprofessional format. -- You might be blown away with the amount of talented writers who do not know the basics of writing a professional letter. Starting out by saying "Hey, How are ya'?" isn't going to cut it. 5) Don't get to the point. -- You need to immediately answer the following questions: 1)Who are you? 2) What do you want? 3) And what does this have to do with me (the agent)? Put yourself in the agent's shoes and show them realistically that you and your book are salable. 6) Write a long-winded synopsis. -- You really need to be able to pique your agent's attention immediately. They run across thousands of query letters a month so grabbing their attention from the very beginning is pertinent. You should be able to boil your story down to 2-3 sentences that sell the sizzle, not the steak. 7) Don't outline who your target audience is. -- You should know exactly who your consumer is. What age group are they? Are they male or female? Professionals or working class? What language do you speak? Because if your answer is "everyone is my target audience" then that's just not going to cut it with a top agent. 8) Have no clue what your genre is. -- As a professional, you should know the up-to-date terminolgy for your genre. Do you write techno-thrillers or do you write mystery? Do you write women's contemporary fiction or do you write chick lit? Are the terms you're using out of date? Find out by reading trade publications. 9) Have no decision on what direction you want to go with your career. -- You should have a clear idea where you want to go with your writing. Do you want to write romance? Do you want to write non-fiction then move into young adult? What do you want to do with your career because if you don't know your agent is not going to figure it out for you. Be open to change, and you may very well change your mind as you progress with your career but have a clear idea what direction you want to go from the beginning. 10) Have no personality in your writing that reflects the style of your writing. -- If your book is humorous your query letter should be a little fun and witty too. Agents get a real reflection on who you are through your writing and first-impressions are important, sometimes that is all you have. If your story is a thriller and gripping, your query letter should be too. If your book is touching then get to the real heart of the matter by making the agent feel even with the query letter. ____________________________________________________________ Jeff Rivera: Need help getting an agent? We'll help you craft the perfect query letter and send it to the right list of agents. We guarantee you will receive at least 10 reputable and legitimate literary agents requesting your work or your money back. Contact: gumbomarketing@gmail.com for more information. |
| Dear Janet: I was clear at that moment that my mother, was going to kill me. Gasping for air, I tried to loosen the cord to no avail. The gushing blood from my head wound and the incessant throbbing created waves of nausea. Such is the life of Miguel and countless other young people I've worked with. Bob, my name is Professor Samantha Willing, I am a Columbia University grad with an M.A. in Special Education. I have 35 years of experience in Neuropsychology, counseling and coaching. My book, SUCCESSFUL KIDS chronicles 7 heartbreaking stories of amazing young people. These stories are inspired by true accounts of children whom I've had the honor and privilege to counsel. They are survivors of drug addiction, multiple personalities, abuse, physical challenges, and crimes words cannot describe but they all have one special thing in common: Gifts, some are clairvoyant, some are empaths, yet others have the gift of telekinesis. I have fictionalized parts of the accounts in order to protect their identities. Part Paulo Coelho, part Chicken Soup for the Soul with a dash of S.E. Hinton, all of the stories are based on real people. I successfully independently published an educational book called, Three Mean Alligators, which quickly sold nearly 3000 copies in 6-months without a distributor. And because of that experience, I have built strong alliances throughout Florida and across the nation that are poised to include POWERFUL PEOPLE: POWERFUL LIVES as part of the school curriculum and the school library system. In fact, I have developed a lecture seminar series to take on the road. If you would like to read a copy of PSUCCESSFUL KIDS, please contact me. Best Regards, Professor Samantha Willing ____________________________________________________________ Jeff Rivera: Need help getting an agent? We'll help you craft the perfect query letter and send it to the right list of agents. We guarantee you will receive at least 10 reputable and legitimate literary agents requesting your work or your money back. Contact: gumbomarketing@gmail.com for more information. |
| One of the best ways of getting people to buy books is to sell them one on one, face to face. It's an incredible way, but the problem is that a lot of authors are sort of shy like I was and can be sometimes, but it really is the best way to sell books. You can see the results immediately. People will buy a book even if they never read it because they want to meet the author, and they want your autograph. So being author really still has a lot of cache. It's not every day somebody meets an author. In fact, a lot of people you'll talk to have always thought about being an author. So, you're really giving an inspiration to them. You may feel every day every work. You can have them speaking about your book to everyone you meet, I mean, even from the irritated lady at the grocery store, to your boss, to your friends and family. Tell everyone you're an author. It's a numbers game. The more people you to, the more books you're going to sell. You really want to make them feel good. Not like they're just another person you're trying to sell books to. People can sense when you want something from them, so be interested of them, take an interest in them, be sincere, care about them, and inspire the people. They're buying the book because of you not just because of what the book is about. One on one selling is one of the top ways to receive immediate trackable result and build your fan base. Not every person you talk to and not every single person you talk to and make a good impression on is part of your sales force. They're going to help spread the word about your book automatically. Do not tell everybody how awesome it was to meet an author. If you're shy like I can be at times and you find a little bit difficult to start, believe me after you get rolling, it will be easy. Think about it as a numbers game. You have to get over the fear of rejection. The more people you talk to, the more you're going to sell. Walk up to them, force yourself to smile, relax, and tell them, "Hi! My name is Jeff. How are you? I'm the author of a new book called Forever My Lady." Now, first of all, they're going to be shocked that an author is actually walking up to them and talking to them, and they're going to be impressed by that. Now, I have the ones who I went across, some kind of a snob but most of the time, people are going to be very impressed. And then what you want to do is ask them what their name is. Tell them it's your newest book or it's the first book you've written and you really wanted to let them know about it. Have them read a page or two or something that's very exciting. What they usually do is flip through it to look on the back of the book. They'll read a little bit of it. And if they're still [Inaudible 02:09] for a while, just stand there in silence and don't say a word until they say yes. Now, if takes a little bit too long, just with the biggest smile on your face, just tell them that it'll make a great gift for someone and you'll be happy to autograph it. Now, a lot of times that seals a deal because if they don't want to buy it for themselves, they'll think they can always think of somebody who would like to buy a book for. Now, they're going to ask you questions like what's the book about, you know. Is this your first book that sort of thing. So, you really want to have a description of the book down to about 15 seconds or less, so keep on practicing based on what it is, what you want to do is really tell the essence of the story and not the whole story. Tell them what the book goes for. For example, $15 retail but you'll give it to them for let say $10 or whatever it is or some of the significant discount. Most people are just going to be excited just to meet an author and they'll buy it at any price. But if God forbid, they say, "Well, maybe next time." Or "I'll think about it?" In other words no, just thank them and tell them Bob, Jane or whatever it was, you know. "It's great meeting you. I really appreciate you gave me a chance to spend my greatest dream to write this book, and give them a free bookmark." Don't burn bridges because you'll never know later on they could buy the book. If they buy a book from you, ask them their e-mail address. Tell them you'd love to keep in touch with them. Don't just give them your card because most of the time, they won't contact you. You have to be in control of that. Now, your image is so important, so it's really important that you dress successfully. Look like a successful author. It doesn't mean you need to wear Rolex's and diamonds and pearls and stuff like that, but look successful, look clean, smell good, look personable. If you see them with their wife or their husband or their child, introduce yourself to them too. Really include them in the conversation. By following these tips of one-on-one selling, you will sell more books. |
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