Category Archives: K-12

Cash In On Book Marketing Trends

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You can have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it; publicity, promotion, marketing and a focus on selling more books should now be a big part of your daily life. It’s one thing to write a book, but an entirely different thing to write one that’s saleable, viable, and marketable. Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book.
Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases. Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why.’
Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales. Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords.
Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories. Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month.
If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers. Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing.
I’ve not found that book signings sell many books for publishers and are often a waste of time; better to spend it elsewhere. Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline. Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets.
Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book. Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed.
Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book. Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs. Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books.
Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigslist in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women’s’ market.
When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic.
Yes you can market and promote your book on a shoestring budget, just be careful about your marketing dollars. If you apply yourself every day and you promote your book like crazy, you can achieve that ultimate goal of selling thousands of copies of your book, many self publishers have. With these book marketing tips you’ll be well on your way to conquering the world of self publishing and book publishing.

For more information on book marketing tips and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com founded in 1982, specializing in help for authors, self publishers, ebook and book publishers with tips, advice and resources, including information on media, library and other mailing lists, and press releases – online, wire service and offline distribution

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Eleven Steps to Massive Book Exposure

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If you’re a newbie to the publishing world, either you’ve self-published or had your book cooperatively published, you’ll be thinking about getting your book out there, telling the world about it. You may be in one of two places. Either you will be standing in a forest, crowded by trees, seeing so much you need to do, and wondering what to do first, or you will be standing in a desert, wondering what to do at all. My experience with marketing my book has certainly been one of learning, making mistakes, and of facing my fears and doing things I’d never have believed I would one day be doing.

Wherever you are standing, understand that any results do not come about instantaneously, that it is your consistent, daily efforts that, over time, will pay off. You need to get your book known, talked about. Here are a few pointers:-

1. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW about your book, through phone, email, letter. I made a simple website ( http://www.chilledparent.com ) and sent the link to everyone I know, family, friends, and also asked them to send it on to others. It’s good to draw a spider map, or mind map, with all the communities in your life – your kids’ parents, your relations, work acquaintances, church acquaintances – absolutely all your communities, and every name you can think of. Don’t pre-judge anyone – through a chance conversation one of those people may know of someone who could help you in your marketing, through some avenue.

2. HAVE A6 CARDS, OR BOOKMARKS PRINTED, with your book cover on one side, and information about the book on the other side, like price, ISBN, where the book is available, as well as your website address. Have these distributed. Mine is a parenting book, so I approached toy shops, baby clothes shops, children’s play venues, pre-schools, toddler groups, anywhere to do with kids, where I thought parents might frequent. I asked the proprietors if I could place the cards by their tills, or in a prominent place for parents to pick up. At schools, I asked the Head Teacher to have one given to each child to take home to their parents. You need to know the people you are targeting who will be interested in your book, and think of as many ways as possible to get it known to them.

3. APPROACH BOOK STORES. Now this can be a minefield. My experience has shown that small, independent bookstores are more likely to support you, especially if you are local to them. To be able to get your book in a prominent place in your local bookshop, and do a publicity campaign at the same time, directing customers to the shop, can give your book the initial boost it needs. I wrote on the back of each A6 card “available at ….. bookshop”. This not only gets your book known, but helps your relationship with the bookshop, who welcome the custom – it’s both good for you the author, and for them.

4. GET YOUR BOOK PROMINENTLY PLACED IN BOOKSHOPS. This is tricky. As an independent author, you’re competing with the big publishers who (I am told by bookshop proprietors) can command a good placing for their books in the shop, and sometimes pay for it. If you can get your book placed in a prominent position, then you are going to sell many more books. I used my testimonial from my local bookshop to convince the big shops that, when prominently placed, my local shop sold X amount of copies.

5. GET YOUR BOOK KNOWN BY THE PRESS. Produce a press release about your book, and distribute it to all newspapers, magazines, radio and TV. Now, your local press are likely to be interested, especially if you can give them a good story. My local paper picked up on two lines in my press release about how I was inspired to write my book after my daughter nearly died from meningitis. I must say, they weren’t going to write anything, until I phoned them to follow-up on the press release, and until they spotted the possibility of a good story in the text.

6. ORGANISE BOOK SIGNINGS. Your local shop may support you in this, but approach as many shops as you can. Advertise the event, and make sure the bookshop is advertising too. Tell all your communities (in 1. above) about the event. On the day, unless you’re famous and well-known already, don’t expect people to be crowding around you for your signature. Get up from the table and go approach people with your book, strike up a conversation, be yourself, build rapport with them, and invite them to buy it with the added bonus, today, of having your signature. This approach can be the difference between you selling 10 books or 50 books.

7. MAKE A SIGNATURE ON YOUR EMAIL with your website link, so that all emails you send will have your signature for potential customers to click on.

8. APPROACH LIBRARIES to stock your book. This will involve some research on your behalf. Libraries don’t necessarily buy books on a local basis, but have a central buyer. It’s not difficult to find their name and contact details by talking to a librarian at your local library.

9. SEND A COPY OF YOUR BOOK TO POSSIBLE REVIEWERS, national newspapers, local newspapers, magazines relevant to the topic of your book.

10. ATTEND EVENTS AND TRADE SHOWS relevant to your book topic, where you will meet possible customers. For example, I attended a holistic baby show where health professionals dealing with parents and children attended, and mothers-to-be and parents came along.

11. HAVE YOUR BOOK WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES. Many times I travel on the London Underground, and I carry my book with me. It has a distinctive cover and title, and I notice people looking at it. If you’ve got your book with you, people are likely to ask about it. You need to get it seen. If you don’t show it to people or tell them about it, it will not get known.

Books don’t have the habit of jumping off the shelf and dancing about shouting “here I am, come and get me”. They’re inanimate objects. They don’t even necessarily get seen on the shelf, along with all the other books. They need publicity. Of all the methods above, number 5 is by far the most powerful, but also the most difficult to execute. Your book in the press, either a review, or most powerfully, as part of an article, gets people walking into bookshops asking for it – it sells books, and the shops love it – they order more. You want the maximum exposure with the minimum effort, and this is the way. Good luck!

Rita Offen is a dedicated parent, and Author of ?The Chilled Parent? ? Effective Parenting, Peacefully and Powerfully. She has a passion for writing, is a keen self-promoter, and has been invited to speak at many venues about her parenting style.http://www.chilledparent.com

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7 Book Writing Mistakes that Short Circuit the Completion of Your Book

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Did your book writing come to a halt somewhere along the way? No worries. Like many of us, you may be making some simple mistakes that block your book’s progress and completion. Correct the following mistakes; complete your book and prosper:


Mistake 1: Failure to plan your book realistically.


Inexperienced book writers aim too high. Don’t try to fit everything you know or researched into a one big book. Plan too big and you may end up with a monster book that turns your potential readers off. Remember many people in the new millennium are busy and impatient. They look for short, quick easy reads.


Solution: Plan a short book first. If you have loads of interesting information, consider breaking your book into parts. Even a series of books is better than one large volume in the non-fiction genre.


Mistake 2: Failure to write your book’s vision.


Newbie book writers lose focus and determination because their vision is not clear. When it’s not written down distractions easily creep into pull you away your goal of a completed book. You may quickly forget why you are even writing a book.


Solution: Write your book’s vision statement. Write it down and make it plain. Write when you’ll complete it. Name specific outcomes you get after completing your book. For instance, envision yourself watching your bank balance grow from book sales. Write, “I see myself with increased income and more clients.” Anyway you get the idea; create your vision statement including see, hear and feel.


Mistake 3: Failure to envision what your completed book will do for you.


This mistake is similar to writing your book’s vision but different because it focuses on the rewards. Many novice book writers fail to dream about the rewards of a completed book. Is your goal to become an expert and gain visibility in your field? Do you want to launch a new career or go to the next level in your current career?


Solution: Fuel the flame of your book dream again. This time dream a bigger dream. Dream after writing your book, you receive life long income that grows each month. You become a highly visible expert in your field.


You gain added respect of your colleagues and peers because of your book. You receive increased income leveraged from higher fees charged. Your clients gladly pay them with book author as one of your titles.


Mistake 3: Failure to conquer procrastination.


The way to conquer procrastination is to act. No, you don’t have to sell your soul anymore to write a saleable book. Use the cumulative effect of doing a little bit at a time. Even so, unless you want it to take years to write, you must schedule a considerable writing time each week. For example, you could write 2 pages a day and have a short book in weeks. Or you could write 10-15 hours a week to complete your book.


Solution: Do it now! Now is better than later. Remember you become a successful author the minute you start moving toward your worthwhile book goal. I don’t know anyone that regrets they wrote a book. But I know plenty of people that regret they didn’t do it sooner.


Mistake 4: Failure to count your book as significant.


Tons of book writers stall at this one. They don’t realize the significance of their work. Too easily they think who cares anyway. Why should I add one more book to the 100s of thousands of book already in the world?


Solution: Realize your message is significant and deserves your attention, love and time. Consider what your readers need and want. If your book shares something unique, encouraging, useful, entertaining, it is important enough to be written.


Think about your gift? God gave you your gift to share with others. Our gift back to God is what we do with it. The loving care you put into your gift (book) the more rewards await you.


Mistake 5 Failure to keep writing in the midst of everyday life.


Many writers believe you have to get away from everything to write a successful book. No you don’t. I know several novelist and non-fiction book writers who had to write during a long commute to get their best book written and out to the world. They accomplished it because they systematically worked on their book until it was done.


Solution: Avoid marathon writing. In the midst of your busy life, designate your time to write (work on your book) with a goal to completion.


Mistake 6 Failure to keep going after life interrupts.


It is a common challenge to find your place after being interrupted by family, work and daily life. After all that’s why many think you must get away to get it done effectively. Yet, there’s hope for those who can’t get away or choose not to. Successful writers all over the world use the tracking approach. They succeed because they commit to doing a little each day.


Solution: Set yourself up for success; use the tracking approach. The most popular method to use for tracking is time. Time is the method where you commit to a writing a certain amount of time each day. With the cumulative factor involved your commitment doesn’t have to be that much.


For example, to accomplish my book writing goals I commit to writing one hour a day in a.m. (my most productive time.) With this method don’t be overly concerned about how much you write, just keep the time commitment.


Mistake 7 Failure to find writing rhythm.


You don’t have to write each chapter one after the other. If you get stuck on chapter two, you could be stuck a very long time. This type of thinking comes from grade school where we are ritually taught to do everything in order.


If you have been thinking that way stop right now, no need to raise your hand. You have my permission to work on whatever chapter moves you or you feel passion bubbling for at the moment. Feeling stuck on a chapter, try another. There you have it now go with the flow.


Solution: Don’t become chained to writing in order. Jump around and fill in the blanks. Review your chapters and whatever subject or topic you most drawn to, begin there.


You may not be making all of these mistakes. Yet one or two will stop the successful completion of your book. Your audience is waiting. Implement the above solutions, get your book finished, release it to the world and prosper.

Earma Brown, 12 year author and business owner
helps small business owners and writers who want to write their best book now! Earma mentors other writers and business professionals through her monthly ezine “iScribe.” Send any email to iscribe@bookwritinghelp.com for free mini-course “Jumpstart Writing Your Book” or visit her at http://www.bookwritinghelp.com

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10 Simple Tips on How to Publish a Book

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The publishing world wants you to think publishing a book is tricky and full of pit holes to fall into. Not true! These simple 10 simple tips will help you publish your book quickly and easily, and the end result will be a professional product you can be proud of.

Tip #1 The first task to self-publishing is actually making a book out of your manuscript.


Here are just some of the decisions that go into transforming a manuscript into a book:


Cover design

Internal artwork and layout

Font, for example, Times New Roman or Arial

Type of binding, for example, spiral, ring, stitched, perfect, etc.

Hardcover or softcover

Book size (standard book size is 5.5″ by 8.5″)

Type of paper book is printed on

Color or black and white

Number of pages. It is generally easier for consumers to justify a book purchase if the book is over 100 pages.


While your printer can help you with a majority of these decisions by offering suggestions and examples it is helpful to go to a printer with a good idea of exactly how you want your book to look. Visit bookstores and find books that you want to model.

Tip #2 Understand the difference between publishers and printers.

POD Publishers


Unlike POD printers, POD publishers may take care of the extra costs of designing a book cover, editing your book, and obtaining an ISBN number. They can be a good option if you need less than 50 books because the price is generally lower than what you would pay for a POD printer. However, make sure that you read your contract carefully and that you fully investigate the POD publisher that you are considering. Some publishers require exclusive rights to your book.

POD Printers


POD printers are just that, printers. They do not invest in your product. They simply manufacture it. The cost can be a bit expensive and generally ranges from $5 to $10 per book, depending on your book’s specifics. POD printers can be a good and cost effective option if your book is nearing the end of its life yet you still have the occasional order trickling in. This way you can order one book at a time and it eliminates the possible expense of having to keep an inventory on hand. The print quality is usually good. Again, as with any company, read your contract carefully and make sure to investigate the company.

Digital Printers PQN, Print Quality Needed


This is a good option for the author that needs fewer than 2500 copies. It is cost effective, the print quality is good, and it normally takes less than two weeks to print.

Offset Printers.


When you need more than 2500 books, your best choice is offset printing. The cost will equate to about $1.25 per book for about 3000 books. However, the more books that you print, the less expensive your cost will be.

Tip #3 Don’t forget about distribution


The next thing that you will need to handle as a self-publisher is the task of distribution. It may actually be to your benefit to hire a distributor; however, most distributors take 65% of the profit. A distributor’s main purpose is to “sell” your book to bookstores and specialty stores.


Distributors also are able to sell your book to larger chain stores like Borders and Barnes and Noble. This can be to your benefit because it means that your exposure is much larger than sticking with smaller booksellers and specialty stores.

Tip #4 How are your customers going to order and pay for their books? Order


Decide how you are going to take orders by phone, fax, email, webstore, snail mail, or all of the above. Do you accept credit cards? How will you ship? How will you take returns, if at all? Mail order purchasing is an easy and efficient process once you have established a routine. However, shipping individual books can be expensive. Will you charge for shipping? Where will you store the books?

Tip #5 What are you going to call your publishing company?


The first thing that you will need to do, once your book is written, is to start your own publishing company. To accomplish this you will first need to decide on a name for your company. Experts recommend against placing your name in the title of the company because it makes you look like a beginner. Additionally, do you really want your name listed as both the author and the publisher?

Tip #6 How much are you going to charge? Pricing Your Book


Before you begin promotion, determine how much to charge for your book. The general rule of thumb is to charge 8 times what it cost you to produce it. Therefore, if it cost you $5 to produce the book, you’ll charge $40. However, you want to consider your market and how much they’ll be willing to pay for your book. It could be more or less than $40.

Tip #7 ISBN numbers. An ISBN number is not a requirement to sell a book yourself but it will make it easier to record your book with booksellers and it is a formal registration process that signifies that you are in fact a publisher. In short, it makes you look more professional. Additionally, most booksellers like Amazon, require an ISBN number.


Visit the ISBN website, www.isbn.org


Fill out the application. It costs $29.95 for 10 ISBNs and I have been told that it takes quite a long time to process, so have patience.

Tip #8 Library of Congress Number. This is a number that is assigned by the Library of Congress to a book. It can also be referred to as the Preassigned Control Number or PCN. Numbers are only assigned to books that will be added to the library. You can apply for a number by visiting www.copyright.gov.

Complete the application and then file for a number

Tip #9 Copyright Registration. The first step in registering your book is to print a copyright notice on your copyright page, usually the back of your title page. Your second step is to publish your book. Last, you will want to visit www.copyright.gov/forms/

Tip #10. Promotion tips. There are thousands of ways you can promote your book. Tackle them one or two at a time. If you jump in and try 10 different promotion methods/tools, things will get messy and you won’t be able to devote your full attention to each promotion method. Focus on one or two at a time.


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For Information on How to Write and Publish your Own Book go to Expert Author- http://www.expertauthorpublishing.com

Bob started his carpet cleaning business in 1976 and quickly built it to 26 locations across Canada. By the time he was 30 years old he had 600 full and part time employees and did over 6 million dollars in annual sales. Bob sold all the locations across Canada and retained only the British Columbia locations, which were expanded into Flood and Fire restoration and are still operating successfully today. Through both the marketing of his fire and flood companies and franchising Bob has developed

many marketing strategies that have propelled profits both for his own businesses and many other who have come to him for help. Bob spends tens of thousand each year on seminars, CD?s and is a voracious reader to help both his companies and others achieve massive success. Many of the people he has worked with have had success on many levels due to Bob?s keen sense of identifying the hidden opportunities in their businesses.

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Children Books Store- Get the Best Books for Children

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Children have always loved reading books. Books are their best companion and give them knowledge. They love to read and get complete information regarding various aspects of life. In school we used to study a number of books on different subjects to gain insight. Every child spends considerable amount of time with books. Story books have always been a great source of entertainment and awareness for kids. Children books help the kids to understand various subjects and learn them in an easy manner.

Every child begins his foray into the world of knowledge and wisdom with the incredible books. Beginning with the initial level nursery rhymes and picture books to the intricate mathematics and science subjects in the middle level, books provide knowledge to children. No one can imagine education without books. Thus they are extremely important for every child. Children books are full of interesting facts presented in funny and comprehensive manner. These books endeavour to present various topics to children in easy and interactive manner so that they can easily understand the important lessons. Books have always contributed in facilitating knowledge and awareness in children.

Storybooks and fairy tales have always attracted children. The awesome tales of Cinderella, Snow White and Rupenzal have entertained kids since ages. How can one forget the fun filled journey of Alice in the Wonderland and the Red Riding Hood’s perils in the forest with the cunning wolf? These stories have entertained the kids. Fairy tales books are quite popular amongst children. These best children fantasy books have characters which take children to the world of whims and fancies; they enthrall them with their magical and wonderful extravaganza and entertaining anecdotes. Kids get thrilled with the amazing stories. Stories are wonderful way to teach them small and important lessons of life. Stories give them the true knowledge about the morals and values through the imaginative characters.

Interactive learning is provided by the various books that have been specially crafted for giving children innovative lessons about the various topics. From numbers to alphabets, from science to literature –books are the source of knowledge on every subject. It is very important for the young ones to learn the basics of various subjects well and then only they shall be able to understand the complex topics at later stage. Books play a very vital role in this aspect. There have been many highly successful series of books from various authors and publishing houses that have given children the most important and valuable lessons in the most intelligent manner.

From time to time new books for children are published which deal with the various aspects and subjects from different arena. With the advancement in technology and enhancement in lifestyle, today children have better understanding and increased level of comprehensibility. This change has also influenced the children books. Best selling children books are now speaking about the internet and technology etc.

The best place to avail the most awesome childrens books is the various children book stores. These days various online books stores are present on the internet with which one can get the books on various genres and topics for children of all ages.

You can find innovative and interactive picture books and children reading books that teach numbers and alphabets for beginners. For kids between 3 to 4 years you can have books with interesting poems and nursery rhymes. For a bit older kids who can read well, various story books and fictional novels are present. Kids between 7 to 11years love reading comics and thriller books. The famous characters like Archie, Richie Rich, Superman, Sherlock Holmes etc have always entertained children.

Online children book stores are the most reliable place to search for your child’s favourite books. You can avail these books at great prices and avail amazing discounts. The best aspect is that you can avail these books easily right from your home. All you need to do is, select the book and order it online.

Alden Jerry is an expert author. Visit to know more about children’s books at online cheap books of a price comparison shop

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