What Is Your Marketing Plan?

What’s Your Marketing Plan?

I haven’t had much use for the MBA I spent way too much money getting. Who would have thought that it would be useful for indie publishing? Well, it is. Because of that experience I knew how to operate…but if you want to be pissed about something—find out that you paid $30K to get knowledge you can Google for free. Sucks…totally! If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again…Google is your friend. If you want to know about putting marketing plans together, just Google it. There are so many free resources it’s not even funny. I used a program called Marketing Plan Pro that I was forced to buy with my student discount in school. If you want to put together a really complex one with financial projects, charts and graphs, that is a fantastic tool. But for the most part, you won’t need that.

Why should you take time putting a marketing plan together?

If you’re an indie author or publisher, you must have a marketing plan. To operate without one is like being dropped in a dark forest in the middle of the night, with a moonless sky, and trying to find your way out. You might eventually figure your way out, but you probably could’ve done it much faster if you bothered to get a flash light and GPS. Consider a marketing plan, your flashlight and GPS for promoting your book.

A more practical reason is that if you plan to try and get your book into major retailers, listed with distributors, or—if you blessed enough to attract the attention of a publisher—they are ALL going to want to see your marketing plan. So, get it done VERY early on in your process. If I had to do it all again, as soon as I finished writing the first draft of my book, in that time that I was taking a break from my novel so I could come back to it with fresh eyes, I’d put a marketing plan together, get a book cover designed and buy and ISBN. That way you can start marketing as early as possible.

What are the elements of a marketing plan?

Your marketing plan should include descriptions of the following:

A description of your audience—if you don’t know your audience, you’re going to be in a heap of trouble when it comes to promoting your book. Your description should include an age and ethnic demographic if possible.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Stands for: Strengths (i.e., you have 50,000 blog followers), Weaknesses (i.e., you’re a first-time novelist, your book has a very small niche audience), Opportunities (i.e., you belong to a fraternity and the national conference will take place around your release date); Threats (i.e., three authors wrote books similar to yours)

This is not analysis that you necessarily want to send to a major retailer, but this is definitely an analysis that you want to conduct for your own edification, so you can minimize the impact of the Threats and Weaknesses.

Promotion

Here you should list all the elements of your promotional plan. Who are you going to target and how are you going to target them? You must keep in mind your audience—step one.

Reviews

To whom have you sent review or promotional copies? Your list should include: reviewers (Midwest Book Review); book blogs; book clubs, etc.

Internet

Make a list of internet sites where you’ve listed your book. What forums will you participate in? Blog Talk Radio? Ads on Book Club Web sites? Book reader sites like Goodreads, Shelfari? Author websites like Authorsden.com? Anywhere and everywhere you can find to post information about your book, you need to target it. Most of the time, it’s free and just takes a few minutes. Every single thing you do will increase your internet presence and make it that much easier for people to find you. It doesn’t matter how obscure you think the site is. If they allow you to post on it, post on it!

Blog Tours

A subset of Internet is Blog Tours. You can visit sites like bookblogs.ning.com and find a plethora of book blogs. They usually provide email addresses for contact information. Email them and ask if they will feature your book. This is a great way to expand your Internet presence exponentially because blogs are linked to other blogs which are linked to other blogs. Get on one and you’ll get one tens or hundreds depending on how popular the blog is.

Live Marketing

Flyers to bookstores? Attending writing conferences and selling your book at the tables? Attending book festivals and book fairs and author pavilions, conducting booksignings? Press, media interviews? Set them up and list them. Show that you have done the ground work and have a specific plan to get out there.

Direct mail

Mailing press kits, letters, or postcards to indie stores, write letters to major retailers. By far the most ineffective part of your plan. Here you are going for name recognition. You will have to send several forms of correspondence, not just one, before they remember who you are. The great thing is, postcards are cheap to mail.

Book Clubs

We love book clubs. These are people who are looking for books to read. They love free books too. And many love writing reviews for indies like us. Google them, list them on your marketing plan, write them sweet letters or emails, offer them FREE review copies, get reviews, and market market market.

Libraries

Some libraries will allow you to place promotional materials like bookmarks and postcards but it is KEY that you DO NOT mention any retailers on this material. You can, however, list your website and then list retailers where your book can be found on your website. List the ones that you've contacted that will allow you to leave materials.

Your marketing plan should be a living document. You should be adding stuff to this as you find more places to market and deleting stuff you find that doesn’t work. You also refer to it frequently, keep it where ever you use the Internet so that when you start promotions, you’ll know what you haven’t done and what you need to do. Also keep in mind what retailers want to see when they receive your marketing plan--they want to see a reasonable plan. Not pie in the sky. Oprah might be in your dreams, but it might not be wise to put that on your plan...unless she's your aunt.

Keep in mind that this plan is NOT all inclusive. There are other things you can add. This is ONLY meant to give you a basic framework and food for thought.

That’s all for now!

Keep it real…and keep it real cheap.

Blogger Comment: Should I use Exlibris?

Hey Everyone. From time to time, I will address questions and issues from a poster when I think my response might benefit other folks following the blog. This was posted on the blog today. I'm deleting names to protect the innocent.

Hi All!
May I just say once again how useful I find this blog and I dive into it more and more these days as if I were visiting my personal reference library!
I feel that I am getting closer to publishing my children's play and am flirting with the idea of going with Exilibris but I'm picking up that it's not all good with them from some comments here and there. I'm tempted because their offer seems reasonable-for the professional package £799 you get all of the below:

· Choice of eighteen book cover templates – if you are having difficulties in making the design of your cover this will help you, you can actually choose from these and you have 18 to choose from The same 18 they offer to everyone else, meaning your cover will almost certainly look self-published.

· Choice of nine interior templates

· Allowance of cover art (up to 3 images) and author photo (supplied by author) Likely stock photos...the same they offer everyone else.

· Ability to customize certain elements of the interior templates (for $37 you can buy book design wizard and customize everything)

· 20 allotted interior graphics and 5 tables – if ever you will have illustrations inside the book then you can put as many as indicated here (You can do the same for only the cost of printing the book with other services)

Production features: (You can get the same through lightning source for ONLY the cost of a proof of each book--the print cost--probably less than $30 each)

· Availability of your book in paperback format

· Availability of your book in hardback format

· Availability of your book in eBook format

· One paperback and one hardback author copy – these will be given to you after approving the galley or draft (every company gives you proof copies)

· Ability to track book production progress through our website – you will be given a unique user name and a password for your access to this (this is a benefit???)

· Author Service Representative who provides support throughout the publication process – a particular person will be assign to you all throughout the production stage

Post-publication features:

You will only received 10 copies in paperback and 1 copy for hardback, you can make it 5 copies in each book for paperback and the hardcopy on the 1st book
· Assignment of ISBN (See my post on Maintaining Control - The second post for this entire blog)

· Registration with Books In Print database – this database is viewable by bookstores

· Worldwide distribution – this means through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waterstones,and other 2500 online resellers

· Registrations with online booksellers through national distributor

· Online book sales and royalty accounting

· Book and author webpages in the Xlibris online bookstore – you control the content – this is the part where your book will be posted in our site, and about you as the author as well

· Quarterly royalty payments

Marketing Features: (This is so overpriced and overrated it's not even funny)

· 50 bookmarks – these are printed materials which includes photo of your book cover, information about you, about the book and ordering information

· 50 postcards

· 50 business cards

· 5 posters

which doesn't seem half bad for the price. The rep is also a hard seller and even though I'm not giving in to her shpeel, I asked about the barcode which she said would be mine for the taking even if I left?? The info on the website seems to offer a good deal. Or am I missing something? ANY input, advice, assistance is welcome as I am very very green!!

My Response:

Let me just say that I am not against anyone using one of these book services but what I am against is getting these packages without really understanding what you're getting. Unfortunately, most authors don't take into account the business aspects when they are looking at these packages.

For example, is it your goal to get into bookstores or just to sell online? What wholesale do they offer? Is the discount 40% or greater (really needs to be 50%)?Do they allow returns? If so, is there a cost to let them accept returns? If so, how much does that cost? I believe with Exlibris, this option costs $699. And you MUST offer returnability to get into bookstores.

Secondly, let's look at the cost. We'll compare the DIY cost with the cost of using a bare bones POD.

Exlibris - With Exlibris your package (with returnability if you want to get into bookstores) is $799 + 699 = $1500 Total Cost: $1500

Lightning Source - To set up your files with Lightning Source it costs $117 - It may cost a little more if you're setting up a hardcover, but not much more. So, I we'll estimate $150 to go on the high end. This includes: uploading your files book files, interior and cover; a proof copy of your book, your book listed with online booksellers and available through brick and mortar bookstores, the ability to set your own wholesale discount at 50% and the ability to make your book returnable. Book listed with Ingram and Baker and Taylor.

Your own ISBN number and price-encoded barcode - $150 (might be cheaper now, prices were supposed to drop this year); book listed in Books in Print.

Interior design - $37 for Book Design Wizard (only takes a couple of hours to format your book)

Fully Customized Bookcover -- We'll set this at $500 (will probably be MUCH cheaper if you're not using a custom illustration)

PDF Software - Use Freeware (Listed on this site)--FREE

Total cost: $837. With most of the cost going into the bookcover.

Now if you add the marketing--You could use Gotprint.com my favorite printer. Design your own postcards on Microsoft Word (very easy--they even have templates you can just plug your picture into) and you could get color front and back--500 business cards ($15), 500 postcards ($38), 500 bookmarks ($51) ($104 total I think)

My point? Well, in the second scenario you maintain full control over your book. You can set terms acceptable to major retailers. When you indie publish, it is imperative that you not forget what happens after they make your book all pretty. Some people find out the hard way that when they walk into a bookstore retailers won't sell them because they aren't returnable and the discount isn't high enough. They list all these seemingly great services as if they are something really complicated and complex---but nine times out of these are things you can do yourself for a fraction of the cost.

So, long story short--this isn't a deal I would accept given what I know today. And do you notice something missing? I do--editing! All that money and they don't even edit your book? Again, if they aren't going to edit it, they aren't doing anything you can't do for yourself.

With that said, you may still choose to go with Exlibris or one of the many other services out there--but just understand what you're getting into. Make sure you're asking the right questions!

That goes for everyone!

That's all I have for today...

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

E-Book Publishing

Ebook Publishing

As an indie author, part of your publishing strategy MUST be e-books. If Kindle and other ebook formats aren’t part of your sales and marketing strategy (Yes, I meant MARKETING), then you are doing your book a huge disservice. I never understood what a vital part of indie publishing that Kindle and other ebook formats would be. But in the interest of telling you the things that I would do differently if I could do it all over again, ebooks would probably lead my marketing strategy—no doubt about it. I’ll tell you how in a minute

What format should I use?

So, people often ask me whether they should use Smashwords or Kindle or one of the many other ebook services out there. I’m gonna cut to the chase and just say use Smashwords AND Kindle. Why? Because I said so!

Okay, kidding. Seriously.

Between these two services they will provide your readers with access to ALL major e-book formats: Kindle (.mobi), Sony, iPad, PDF, HTML, JavaScript. Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, others, PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing, RTF (readable on most word processors, LRF (for Sony Reader), Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices), Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting), Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page).

The great thing about using Smashwords is that through their premium distribution program, you will get distributed to Sony, iPad, Kobo, AND Barnes & Noble. My book ebook is listed on Barnes and Noble through Smashwords.

How much does it cost?

It’s free!

Sike!

Nothing’s free. Of course they will allow you to upload your files for free. But you will receive a royalty from any sales. Smashwords, by far, offers the best royalty splits with the authors. You get 85 percent from regular ebook sales. They also offer 42.5 percent for your Kindle sales. Amazon offers 35 percent on each book sold. However, thanks to Apple iPad and, for Amazon, the ever-dreaded iBookstore, Amazon will be increasing royalties to 70 percent sometime in June—but you must list your book at $2.99 or above.

So, Karla, why don’t I just list my book on Smashwords since they have a Kindle format?

Good question. I am going to give you both the business perspective and the Kindle user perspective.

The vast majority of my ebooks are sold on the Amazon side of Kindle. I might make more per book on Smashwords, but I sell way more books on Amazon Kindle. That's because Smashwords has a much smaller customer base than Amazon--a small fraction really. And for me, it's not about the royalties. It's about reaching the largest audience possible, and Kindle has the largest customer base for ebooks, even higher than B&N. As B&N and the Nook catch on, maybe their sales will increase. Right now, Amazon is the way to go. Hands down.

As a Kindle owner, I have another theory about why sales are much higher. When I want to buy something from my Kindle on Amazon and I’m sitting in my cozy spot on the couch and I don’t really want to move, all I have to do is click a button and boom, the book is there in a matter of seconds. If I wanted to buy an ebook from Smashwords, get myself up from my cozy spot, find my USB cord (which could be anywhere), go to my office and plug it into my desktop, pull up the Smashwords site, and download that book to my Kindle, unplug my Kindle, go back to the couch and get in my comfy spot and get re-comfortable (is that a word?), pull up the book, and start reading. MOST kindle owners bought the Kindle, with its Whispernet wireless service to avoid all that. In my humble opinion, until all formats are that easy to access, Amazon Kindle verison will continue to outsell any other. So, you must set your book up on Amazon Kindle!

I sell HUNDREDS more on Amazon than Smashwords. But Smashwords will be great for B&N, Sony, and Apple iPad.

Do I need an ISBN?

Neither Smashwords or Kindle requires you to have an ISBN number to upload your book. As a matter of fact, when they submitted it to Barnes and Noble, B&N assigned one for me. Amazon linked my kindle version to my paperback edition but did not assign it a new ISBN. They have an internal number they use.

If you have a paperback version, and you just want an ISBN number on your ebook, then you'll need to buy a separate number for it. You cannot use the same number as your paperback or hardcover version.

Setting up your files.

I’m going to give you a long drawn out set of instructions on how to format your files for Smashwords and Amazon. This is how I did it.

Amazon

1. I pulled up the paperback version of my book format.

2. I deleted all the fancy formatting (i.e., drop caps, extra returns, extra spacing) –Italics are not fancy, keep them in.

3. I saved it as an .html file in Word.

4. Whew!

Smashwords

1. I pulled up the paperback version of my book format (in Word).

2. I deleted all the fancy formatting (see above).

3. I saved it—as a .doc (Word file).

4. Whew!

Can you handle that?

I think so.

These instructions are for files without any photos or images. If you have anything other than standard text in your book, each site has formatting instructions that will help you through it.

How should I price my book?

When I first published my Kindle version, I was a little delusional. I thought because I worked hard and published a book that could at least minimally compete with major publisher books. They sold theirs at $9.99 so I figured I could go…$7.99. Little discount, right? HA!

My rude awakening came when I visited the Kindleboards.com. Kindle owners were like, “Nuh uh girlfriend, I don’t know you from a can of paint. You betta drop that price if you want me to check out your book.”

I got the hint.

For them, the risk of an indie book totally sucking is pretty high, so the price to get them to try you out must be low low low . I experimented with a lot of prices and, if I had to do it all again, here’s how I would do it.

I’d start out with a price at $2.99 and once I racked up some reviews, I’d lower the price to 99 cents. Why those prices? Well, at $2.99 my theory is that it’s cheap enough to get people to try it out and someone who pays $2.99 probably won’t be strictly an impulse buyer. They’ll probably care enough to read it at that price. After you’ve stacked up reviews (I’d say ten or more), then you should drop the price to get the word of mouth spreading. When people see your book has great reviews, at 99 cents, the purchase requires no thought at all. Let them buy it, read it, tell their friends about, then they’ll buy it and read it and so on and so on.

This is not the perfect strategy nor is it scientific…but I can say it has worked for me…and very well for me. My Kindle version is selling like hotcakes, word of mouth is spreading—and it has even attracted a publisher. If you don’t have a strategy, it certainly couldn’t hurt to try this one. But if you see it’s not working, drop the price and promote to get more reviews. Reviews are key.

Where can I promote?

I recommend Kindleboards.com, booksummit.com, and mobileread.com. Be respectful and keep your posts to the boards that allow indie authors to post. And DON’T SPAM!!!

That’s all for now.

Any questions?

Until next time, keep it real and keep it real cheap!

Baker & Taylor, Createspace's Expanded Distribution Program, and More

I thought I'd use this next blog to clarify a few things given feedback and questions I received.

First question: You stated that CreateSpace users need thier own ISBN. Does that still hold true in light of the new expanded distibution program implemented in December?

Response: Just to clarify, I did not say that Createspace users need their own ISBN. You are free to use the one provided free by Createspace, just understand that in using their ISBN you lose control over how that ISBN number is used. Remember that all the advice I provide is based on the premise that the author retains as much control and flexibility over their book as possible. So, using the CS ISBN won't have any impact on your Amazon sales but once we get into bookstores things get a little stickier. You can check out my second or third post in January which goes into why authors need to retain as much control as possible.

http://cheapindieauthor.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-is-pod-and-maintaining-control-of.html

Createspace and Expanded Distribution

I must admit that while I use Createspace for Amazon sales and printing services, I am not sold on the effectiveness of the expanded distribution program. I think many authors who use it have not done enough homework to understand how it really works. So here are some key issues that I have with the program.

• Expanded distribution does not allow you, as an author, to accept returns. Why is that important? Because one of the key things major retailers expect before they stock your book is that your book will be returnable if your book doesn't sell well. If it's not returnable most won't stock it. So, to offer a program that's supposed to get your books into bookstores without offering returnability is pretty pointless.
• Createspace, as I understand it, does not disclose how much of that 60% wholesale discount actually goes to the stores. Why is that important? Because most major retailers won't stock your book unless they receive a wholesale discount of 40-55%--the higher the better. If Createspace is only offering 35%, as an example, then most likely a store isn't going to stock your book. So, again, the program is useless. Even with a higher discount, the returnability issue may hurt your chances. You really need to be able to offer both.
• Too many authors think that a listing in Ingram means a bookstores and libraries will just start stocking your book. This couldn't be further from the truth. An Ingram listing only makes your book available through a store's normal distribution channel so that if by some miracle they find it, they could purchase it. But the chances of them flipping through a catalog of hundreds of thousands of books, seeing your independently published book, and picking it up--with all the traditional publisher salespeople beating down their door to get their books on the shelves--has about the same probability as a second virgin birth. It ain't gonna happen. If you enroll in the ED program and you aren't sending out letters and postcards, visiting, or calling retailers to get your book in libraries and bookstores, don't expect your book to magically appear on the shelves. Not gonna happen.

There are a few positives about the program:

• You book gets listed on Barnes & Noble.com
• Your book gets listed with the International Amazon retailers

These things happen even if you do nothing. And the more places your book can be found, the more exposure it gets.

Baker & Taylor

Okay, so I spoke previously about having a time getting my book listed with Baker & Taylor so that I could be in the Borders Bookstore distribution chain and get my book on the shelves. Another author indicated that there was a way to do it, but suggested I purchase his new book to find out. Of course I wasn't going to do that because I'm the cheap indie author!! But I spent an hour yesterday figuring out a solution and here it goes. So--if your book is already listed with Lightning Source and you want to expedite the listing on Baker and Taylor, here's what you need to do.

Send an email to btinfo@btol.com

In the email, explain that you are listed with Lightning Source and would like to get your book listed on Baker & Taylor. Include in the email your company name, your name, address, contact phone number and ISBN(s) and book titles EXACTLY as they appear on your Lightning Source account.

Once they receive this information, they will list your book in Baker & Taylor's systems as an inactive listing. When they notify you via email that your company information is listed, you will log onto Lightning Source, fill out their help form or call your customer service rep...and ask them to transmit your information to Baker & Taylor. At that point, B&T can pick up your information. But they can't pick it up before they put your information in their system--so the first email is the KEY.

And that's it. It can take up to a week for the listing to go live with B&T (maybe longer). But you'll know your book is available when it shows up on Borders.com

Whew!

I think that's about all for today.

Until Next Time,

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

Getting Bookstores to Carry Your Indie-Published Book

By the grace of God, and with lots of hard work I was able to get my book into Barnes & Nobles stores across the country (see http://www.klbradywrites.com/ for a list). I'm often asked how I did it. First, understand that this starts with a good book. You need to have a marketable cover that doesn't look "self-published," you need a well-edited book with a professional-looking book interior.

The Hard Way...

(Note: This is a repost from another forum. I figured there was no need to reinvent the wheel. This is the method that I used BEFORE I did it the "Easy" way which can be found below. If a bookstore tells you they don't stock "POD" please see my post on PODs for further explanation and don't give up.)

So, I promised to come back and let you know how my experience was getting into bookstores this morning. Keep in mind, everyone's experience may be different but I will just tell you how things went for me.

I woke up Saturday morning, loaded my truck with press kits and copies of my novel, and headed to Borders. When I arrived at Borders I asked to speak to the manager and told them I was inquiring about the process to get my books on the shelves in Borders. I told them my book was available in Ingram, told them the wholesale discount, and told them that it’s returnable. So, the manager turned to me and asked me if my book had a BINC? “What the heck is a BINC?” I asked. She said this is the sticker placed on all books sold in borders stores. Once your book is approved by Borders HQ (yes, it has to be approved), books are purchased from one of the distributors (Ingram or Baker and Taylor), the books are shipped to Borders warehouses where they are stickered, then the books are sent to Borders stores and shelved.

Long story short, your book must go through the corporate to get approved to be shelved. No way around it.

Deflated, I left the store with their standard author-book signing brochure in hand. I got in my truck and read the brochure. Funny enough, the brochure didn’t say anything about needing a BINC to do book signing, so I called another store and spoke with a different manager. Turns out, you don’t need a BINC just to do a book signing, but your book MUST be available through Ingram or Baker and Taylor. What they do is order enough books for your signing, and depending on how your signing goes, they can request to get a BINC and shelve it or they ship your books back to the distributor, which is why your books MUST be returnable. So, then I said, “Ohhhh, well can I set up a book signing? My book is available through Ingram and it’s returnable.” And they said, “Sure!”

This is where I learned the second lesson to apply when querying Borders stores. There are managers and then there are managers. Not all managers can set up your book signing. Moreover, if the manager on duty is not the right manager, they will be completely disinterested in your little press kit and looking at your book. Lesson learned: Save your gas, call first, tell them you’re a local author that wants to set up a book signing, they will either connect you with that manager OR give you an email address to send your information. Ensure that you have a link to your press kit on your website, save some trees.

Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Nobles stores operate in this century. You’re not required to have any special stickers. Once again, the process is the same to conduct book signings and to get your book into stores nationally. Call for the correct manager, ask to set up a book signing, they will ask you whether your book is in Ingram or Baker and Taylor (it must be), then they will fit you into the schedule. Once again, they took no interest in me handing them my press kit or looking at my book at the time. Maybe later they will, but they didn’t initially.

Indie Bookstores

Indie bookstore not only want to your press kit and a copy of your book, but they want to read through your book before they agree to order it. That was my experience when I went to the two Indie stores. They wouldn’t even discuss carrying up my book or scheduling a book signing withou\t reading it. The great thing is, Indie bookstore owners know their inventory and seem to be the best proponent for selling your book. If they like it, they will push it to everyone who walks in the door. I lingered for a while and bought a couple of books and the owner could tell you the plot of just about any book you picked up. That doesn’t happen in the big stores. One author sold 3,000 copies between one of the stores and Amazon alone. You want to be nice, make a purchase, and make them a fan of you and your work.

So, to sum up my advice:

For Borders and BN: · Call first · If your book isn’t in Ingram or Baker & Taylor – Fuhgedabouditt! · Just ask to do a book signing, don’t even bother asking to get shelved initially · Make sure you’re speaking to the right manager. · Make your press kit available on your website!! · Make your signing as successful as possible so they’ll push to carry it on the shelves.

The process is much easier in Barnes and Noble than it is in Borders from an inventory perspective.

Indie stores: · It’s okay to drop by, most of the owners also run the store. · Bring a pretty press kit · Be prepared to leave a (free) copy of your book. · Linger, shop, and make nice with the owner.

The "Easy" Way...

An easier way to get your books into the major bookstores is to send your book to the book buyers at the corporate level. If they approve it, your book will be made a part of the chain's official stock and this makes getting your book stocked in individual stores and doing booksignings MUCH easier.

To get your book approved you need to do several things.

First, for Createspace users, you must own your own ISBN, and you must have the price barcode on your books. You must use an approved distributor. B&N uses Ingram which means you have to use Lulu, Lightning Source, or some other printer that offers Ingram distribution. Borders uses Baker & Taylor. BooksAMillion uses both.

You must send a cover letter, 1 copy of your book to BN or BAM/2 books to Borders, and a press kit (including a marketing plan) to their Vendor/Small Press Department. You should emphasize in your letter what makes your book special, why it will sell, and an information sheet with all the details about your book. The information sheet should contain: a picture of you cover, your book's bio (ISBN, size, type, suggested retail price, etc.).

Most importantly, you need a marketing plan that discusses who you've submitted your book to for review, online marketing strategy, off-line marketing strategy, radio interviews, newspaper articles, tv appearances, etc. etc.

Barnes and Noble: Small Press Department, 122 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 10011.
Borders: New Vendor Acquisitions Borders Group, Inc. 100 Phoenix Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108
BooksAMillion: Director of Merchandising, Booksamillion.com, P.O. Box 19728, Birmingham, AL 35219

I am now working on getting into Borders, which I'm finding is a little bit different. You MUST work with Baker and Taylor to get into Borders. Even though Lightning Source has an established relationship with Baker & Taylor, I can tell you that I have jumped through a gahzillion hoops and still have not been able to figure out an easy way to get listed with B&T, until yesterday. The reason I keep getting the run around at LS is because B&T now has its own POD service-TextStream. If you set up your title through TextStream, you're automatically listed with B&T retailers and libraries, which means that you're taking away some of LS's business (certainly a reason why they keep giving me the run around).

To list your book with TextStream POD, you need to have your print-ready files ready (which should have already done through LS or CS (although their specifications require a .25 bleed which is a bit more than LS or CS). You can find out more info here: http://www.btol.com/supplier_textstream.cfm

This process can take 6 to 8 weeks, so be patient. The faster you get a response, the more likely it is that your book wasn't approved. Also, from my understanding, if they return your book, they probably did not accept it.

So that's it! Get out there and get your books shelved!

Until next time...

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

AmazonEncore

I had to post this link as a little inspiration for self-published authors who might have a dream of getting picked up by a publisher someday. Great inspirational story!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zetta-elliott/breaking-down-doors-my-se_b_473336.html

Neat & Cheap Tools of the Trade #1

Well, this is a new segment I'll do periodically to highlight some of the neat and cheap tools I've found that have helped me put out a better and higher quality product.

Design Wizard 2.o - Book Interior Design

I don't know how many of you have attempted to design your own book interior but it was one of the MOST frustrating things about putting my book out. My chapter titles kept shifting all over the place. Never quite got the headers or footers right. Couldn't decide what size I wanted to print my book in so everytime I changed the page size, i.e., from 6x9 to 5.5 x 8.5, all my formatting got completely jacked up. In short, the inside of my book looked like a HOT MESS!

I was determined to find some kind of software that would take the pain out of that task. And find that software I did.

With this unbelieveably inexpensive but incredibly useful software, all you need to know how to do to set up a perfect book interior is click a mouse, type a few words, and cut and paste. What took me nearly a month to do--and I still never got it right--Design Wizard helped me do in about 2 hours. This is the best $37 dollars you will ever spend if you plan to self publish more than once.

How does it work?

It integrates into your MS Word program. As I understand, it does not work on MAC (sorry). But it becomes an option in your toolbars. Once you install it and click the option in your tool bar, it literally prompts you through your entire design. It asks you what size you want your book to be, do you want headers, footers, page numbers, what font, etc. etc. Then you just cut and paste your chapters in. And that's it. The great thing is that you can change the size of your book, your margins, etc. and it will reformat the entire book with the click of a button. You can make changes, literally in minutes.

If you're not sold yet, you just aren't gonna be. lol Buy this YESTERDAY! It will take all the pain out of your book interior design.

Book Design Wizard

BOOK COVERS for the Broke Author!

Since I've had so many people ask me about getting inexpensive book covers, I queried a few of the forums I participate in to find folks who will do them at a bargain price.

NOW, first I have to give props to my cover designer, Dee D'amico. She's not necessarily cheap, but if you like cool illustrations, contact her and she'll work with you. And I can personally vouch for the quality and speed of her service. She took my stick drawing and made my awesome cover.

Dee D'Amico

http://dee131040.tripod.com/

These are other designers but I cannot...I repeat I cannot vouch for their services. However, they have said that they are willing to work with indie authors on price. Please do your research and ask to see their portfolios. This is only a public service announcement. :)

http://www.tarangozi.gutensite.com/Design-Portfolio

http://coroflot.com/1013studio

http://barbgallowaybydesign.web.officelive.com

http://www.direatrium.com/ Gallery: http://www.direatrium.com/Gallery.html#starved

http://www.vedicdesign.com (Author said she paid $199 and they gave her three design options)

hetmanpublishing@hotmail.co.uk (Hetman Publishing - $50 for Createspace members e-mail him for details)

http://www.12on14.com or e-mail walton@12on14.com

That's all for today.

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

All POD Companies are NOT Created Equal

Okay, so you've got your book written and editted. Now it's time to find a printer/self-publishing service. I'm going give you some background on print-on-demand so that you'll know what it is--and what it isn't--based on the hundreds of questions I've seen asked on various forums.

What is print-on-demand?

Print on demand is a production model which essentially provides that books are printed according to market demand--or when they're ordered. It's based on Toyota's Just-In-Time production. JIT provided that instead of pre-building thousands of cars and hoping that enough customers would come to buy them, they'd build them as they're ordered. And they'd make their production process SO efficient, that a car could be built according to the customer's specification, in no time flat. The same principal holds true for POD. Instead of, say an author, having to order 10,000 books and store them in the garage, praying they can find some place to sell them, you order the books as you find customers. It reduces the need to stock inventory from every level of the bookselling process. So, if a store wants to buy 5 copies of your book to try it out, they can buy five, see if they'll sell, and then order more if necessary.

That's all print-on-demand is. So when you hear POD, you should not equate that with PUBLISHER.

The big difference between POD and Offset printing is that if when you order books in bulk numbers from offset printers, the more you buy the less it costs per book to produce. With POD, the cost of the book is the same regardless of whether you purchase one or 1,000. This makes POD more expensive than offset printing when you get into "thousands" of books. As a self-published author just starting out, you are probably not going to need thousands of books. Some have problems selling hundreds...and tens. At this stage of the game, POD is probably the best option.

So, what are POD companies?

Again, POD companies are NOT publishers! None of them are. POD companies are, for the most part, middle men or facilitators. They help turn your masterpiece manuscript into book format. That is all they do.

Different PODs, offer different pay-for services, at different costs. Some offer editing services, book cover design, marketing, and distribution. These are services that you pay for that can help enhance your book's presentation. Offering these services does not make it a publisher. With a traditional publisher, you should NEVER have to pay for the services. They will be provided to you for free AND you will receive a royalty.

"Well," you say, "my POD company pays me a royalty." Doesn't matter because the entire cost of producing your book was borne by you...not them.

There are different levels of POD companies. For the sake of this post, I'll call them Full Service, Minimal Service, and Mixed Service.

Full service companies include: iUniverse, Xlibris, AuthorHouse
Minimal Service: Lightning Source, TextStream
Mixed Service: Createspace/Booksurge, Lulu

Now, I've only selected a handful of companies. There are many more that you can Google.

Which company is for me?

Before you sign up for anyone, you MUST assess your needs and your goals. When I got ready to publish my book, I had several needs and goals.

Goals: To get my book onto as many major book retailers as possible. To get my book on bookstore shelves. Getting onto online retailers seemed to be the easiest thing. Getting into bookstores, not easy AT ALL. Through my research, I found out that you need several things to get into bookstores.

• You book must be set at a retail price comparable to similar books on the market.
• You must offer a standard industry discount typically between 40-55%.
• Your book should be returnable. That means, if a retailer can't sell it, they can send it back to you for a refund.
• Your book should be available through a major distributor (Ingram, Baker & Taylor)
• It should have a professional-looking cover and interior.

Needs:

• To be able to set my price.
• To offer returnability
• A printer
• Amazon sales channel
• To keep the set up, price, and printing costs as CHEAP as possible.

Now let's turn to the PODs.

Full Service PODs offer everything. They help you set up your files. They send your book to the printer. They set up distribution for you. They offer marketing, book design and editing packages. It's an All-in-One. But remember, for my goals, I want to get into bookstores too, so I want to ask about the following: Discount, Returnability,

• Xlibris - Cheapest Package - $399; Wholesale Discount- up to 48%; Book returnability - $699; Set your own price - $249; Distribution/Retail-Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon
• iUniverse - Cheapest package - $1099; Wholesale Discount - 36%; Book Returnability - $699; Set your Own Price - No; Distribution-Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon
• AuthorHouse: Cheapest package $599; Wholesale Discount - Could not find information; Book Return - $699; Set your own price - No; Distribution - Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Amazon

Minimal Service. These companies provide you with printing services and access to distribution channels ONLY. No editing, no book design, no marketing, no nothing. They are the cheapest because they don't offer these services. You have to format and submit your own files in PDF format. But they give you the most direct access to the distribution channels because they are owned by the distributors. This means, instead of the middle man, you're working directly with the companies and your books get listed much more quickly from the point of signing up. These companies work with major publishers, like the Hachette Group, on a regular basis. So they don't just work with authors, they work with presses of all sizes and prominence.

• Lightning Source - $37.50 book interior upload ; $37.50 bookcover upload; $30 for proof (includes overnight delivery); $12 for listing with Ingram; Set your own price - Yes, Free; Set your own wholesale discount - yes, Free; Book Return - Yes, cost to print book +$1.00; Baker and Taylor, Ingram (Listing to Baker & Taylor takes 4-6 months, Ingram - Immediately)
• TextStream - $30 file set up; listing with Baker & Taylor; Set your own price - Yes, Free; Set your own wholesale discount - Yes, Free; Book Return - Yes, Free; Distribution - Baker and Taylor (immediately).

Mixed Service Companies: These companies let you do things your way. If you need more services you can get them. But if you don't need the services, you could potentially publish your book for FREE.

• Createspace: Cheapest package: Free; Set Your Own Price - Yes, Free; Set your own wholesale discount - No; Distribution - Expanded Distribution With ProPlan ($39) - Yes, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon. Wholesale discount - 40% Amazon, Bookstores ??? (author gives up 60%, we don't know what goes to the retailer).
• Lulu: Cheapest package: FREE; Set your own price - No (typically above market prices); Distribution - Yes (for a fee); Book return - Could not find information; Distribution - Amazon, Ingram, Baker & Taylor; wholesale discount - ???

(Note: I'd always be wary of a company that does not make this information readily available on their website.)

What services did I choose and why?

In a previous post, I spoke about the benefits of purchasing your own ISBN. One of those benefits was getting to work with as many companies as I want to ensure that I'm getting the best (cheapest) deal and widest distribution.

Well, as the cheap indie author, I selected: Lightning Source, TextStream, and Createspace. Why? Because I wanted to be able to offer my book to bookstores while maintaining maximum control over pricing, discounts, and returnability.

• I had complete control over my cover design. With many full service PODs, they use templates and stock photos that make your book look "self-published."
• I have the technical savvy to set up my own files.
• I hired my own editors and got a better perspective because I used someone directly from the publishing industry. With those services, you don't know the professional history of the editors that work on your book.
• I could offer returnability at no cost, something most companies charge $699
• I designed my own book interior (Design Wizard - $37--Google it)
• I controlled my own pricing--for free. Most do not allow you to set your own price. I went to the bookstore, checked out the prices on books similar to mine, and set the price accordingly.
• I can set my own wholesale discount for FREE; this allowed me to set a standard wholesale discount.
• Createspace is an Amazon company, so they take the lowest discount for Amazon sales (40%); Through anyone else they usually require 55%. So by using Createpace, I'm keeping more royalty.

So, to sum up, before you sign up for ANY POD, if you endeavor to get into bookstores ask the following questions.

• Can I set my own price?
• Can I use my own ISBN?
• Is the agreement non-exclusive? (A MUST--if you want to work with multiple companies)
• What wholesale discount do you offer to retailers, Amazon? Can I set my own discount?
• Do you offer book returnability? How much does this service cost?
• Which distribution channels do I have access to (Ingram and/or Baker & Tayor a MUST)

Unfortunately, many authors who sign up with many of the full service companies don't understand what I've explained today and they set their book up for failure.

For example: One company offers a 36% discount. This is below the industry standard and bookstores probably won't stock it. But this same author might pay $699 to offer book returnability. They've wasted $700 to offer book returnability on a book that a bookstore will never stock.

What does a bookstore mean when they say, "We don't stock POD books."?

First, we now understand there is a difference in PODs and the services that they offer. They are not equal. When a bookstore says they don't stock POD, they mean companies like the example above that offer 36% discount and no returnability.

If your POD company is Lightning Source and you offer returnability and a standard discount (and provided your book is well-designed and priced) you have an EXCELLENT chance of getting your books on bookstore shelves.

How do I know?

Because I did it! On the next post, I'll tell you how!

Anymore questions on POD?

Until next time, keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

Editing: One Commandment, Seven Tips

If you are going to do any major cash outlays on your book, my suggestion—as I’ve stated before—is that that bulk of your money go into two key areas: your book cover and editing. Today, I'll give you my take on book editing.

First, I can’t even begin to tell you how important editing is, particularly for indie published titles. You may attract a reader with a fancy cover, but you establish an audience by putting out well-written, well-edited, and entertaining stories. Period. If you fail on the latter, I don’t care how fancy your next cover is, people are not going to want to lay out cash for your book. It’s that simple. Your reputation and career in writing is based on what lies between the cover.
With that in mind, one commandment about editing that every indie author should heed.
Thou shalt NEVER be the sole editor for thine own book.

Serving as your own editor, in my opinion, is like representing yourself in court—not very smart. If you don’t know the law, how can you apply that law to defend yourself? By the same token, most of us don’t know grammar rules at a professional level. We can get by, but you have to do better than “get by” when you publish a book for public consumption.

For my day job, I work as an editor for a military organization. And what I can tell you is that, as an editor, with something of a trained eye, ICONSTANTLY miss mistakes in my own work. I’ll read through something I’ve written a few weeks prior and I can’t believe the mistakes I make. Why is it so difficult to edit your own work? Even the best writers have a tendency to read what they MEANT to write instead of what’s actually on the paper. At a minimum, you need a second set of eyes to read over your work. If you’re lucky, that person will also know basic English grammar. But the more eyes on your work, the better for your book.

With that said, when you ask someone to edit your book, what are you REALLY asking them to do? Most of us don’t really categorize editing, we have an idea that you just fix what’s wrong. But knowing the levels editing will help you determine what you can afford if you do eventually hire an editor.

In my experience, there are essentially four types of editing.

1. Proofreading. When you ask someone to proofread, you are really asking for the most basic editorial service. Proofreading really involves fixing the mechanics, such as missing or improperly used punctuation, wrong typefaces and font sizes, mist italicizations, capitalizations, transposed letters, etc. etc. The proofreader won’t change any words, they won’t delete anything you’ve written, they won’t rewrite. Just the basics.

2. Copyediting. In addition to proofreading, copy editing involves ensuring consistent word usage throughout the book, suggesting word changes, fixing language usage errors, etc.

3. Substantive or Heavy Editing. This is the maximum level of editing service that you can get. Everything’s pretty much on the table. They look at everything from grammar to structure, plot, and style. (This service can cost several thousand dollars for an adult-length novel.)

4. Manuscript Review or Editorial Review. This level of editing involves no changes to your manuscript whatsoever in terms of copyediting or proofreading. With this level of service, the editor reviews your entire manuscript and provides you with suggestions on plot, structure, pacing and flow, dialogue, etc. They may say “You use too many semicolons” or “check your comma usage” but they don’t make changes for you. They will answer questions like, such as Does the book have its intended effect (i.e., if it’s supposed to be funny, does it make the reader laugh?) Is the book commercially viable? They will usually provide you with written report that summarizes their findings and you’re left to incorporate those changes on your own.

In addition to the multiple levels of editing, there are also multiple types of editors. For example, I’m an editor in the technical sense. A professional editor too. BUT apart from writing my own novels, I do not have any experience in the acquisition, editing, and sale of books for a major publishing house that will be sold to readers nationally/internationally through major retailers. That subtle distinction sets apart editors from EDITORS. If you hire somebody, make sure you know who you are hiring and what level of service you’re paying for.

With that said, I have a few recommendations for self-editing and what to ask for when you hire an editor.

1. When editing your own work, two things you can do to help yourself find mistakes are read your work out loud and read the chapters and pages out of order. When you read out loud you tend to read exactly what’s on the page. Reading aloud also helps you identify issues with rhythm and awkward sentences.

2. When I edited my novel, I used a software called Autocrit. It is one of the single most valuable tools I used in self-editing. After processing each chapter through this software, my book was noticeably improved and got A LOT more attention from literary agents. You cut and paste blocks of text into the program and it helps you identify such issues as overuse of adverbs and clichés, poorly-worded sentences, and many many many other items that you would not likely see on your own. It does not provide alternatives, however, so the hard work is up to you. I HIGHLY recommend this tool. It’s available by a yearly subscription and the cost is cheap compared to the benefit you receive. http://www.autocrit.com/

3. If you cannot afford to pay for copyediting or proofreading, my suggestion I highly recommend getting a manuscript review from a former acquisitions editor of a major publishing house. Costs vary ($500 and up). Some will allow you to set up a payment plan. I did a lot of my own editing in addition to a friend who is a teacher who helped me proofread for the small fee of an acknowledgement. Then I could afford to spend all my editing dollars on getting a manuscript review. The key is getting someone who will tell you what you need to hear and not necessarily what you want to hear. I hired such a person. She kept it very real with me and gave me very good advice about how to proceed with my career and issues that I needed to keep in mind. If you need a recommendation, please let me know. I have three that I regularly recommend because I’ve had some interaction with them or they were recommended to me by others.

4. When hiring an editor, unless the recommendation is coming from someone you know and trust, ALWAYS CHECK REFERENCES. Good editors will have testimonials available on their website.

5. Critique groups, some which are free to participate in, offer great opportunities to get your work reviewed and most reviewers tend to do some proofreading as well. I’ve heard that AbsoluteWrite.com has a great critique group. My personal favorite is http://www.thenextbigwriter.com/. The reviewers on that site are really amazing and generous with their time and effort. The site is set up like Authonomy.com but unlike Authonomy, you have to give as much as you get. You’re required to review in order to earn points to post your own work chapter by chapter. In this way, they really encourage maximum participation. The cost is $50 a year, but the invaluable feedback I got from reviewers and the friends I made were far worth the price.

6. Buy at least ONE style manual! There are three that I highly recommend for writers: 1. The Chicago Manual of Style. 2. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White (often referred to at the Writer's bible.) 3. A Writer's Reference by Diane Hacker. Those are my three favorite/best reference tools and I own them all. There are MANY others that I'm sure are used that others will recommend. These are the ones that I've found most useful. Strunk and White is very cheap and can be read in a couple of hours. It's amazing all the mistakes that you will pick up in your own writing by just reading that just one time.

7. If you’re in a major bind, on rare occasions, I do proofreading/copyediting for authors who are tight on cash and need a trained eye. My fee is SUPER cheap because I don’t do really do it for the money. I do it to help out broke authors like myself. I only accept a small number of projects (because I’m focused on my own writing) and they have to be pretty straightforward. Contact me at karla (at) klbradywrites (dot) com for more information on that.

Whew! That's about it. What are your big editing challenges?

Keep it real--and keep it real cheap!

Quality Book Covers for the Cheap, Frugal, and Broke

As I’ve mentioned before, a quality cover is your book’s single-most important marketing tool. You could’ve written the next great novel but if your cover looks cheesy and unprofessional, most people won’t find out. The LAST thing you want is for someone to pick up your book and say, “This looks self-published.” That’s the same as saying, “There is no way in HELL I’m paying my good money for this crap!”

I’m one of those people who will buy a book largely based on the cover and a quick glance over the back cover copy. I’m easy, I know. And I can’t tell you how many books sit unread on my bookshelf because of that. Oh yeah, I’d been snookered, bamboozled, led astray, cast aside…lol. But it didn’t matter because by the time I figured it out they already had my money.

A really good quality cover is sometimes all you need to entice buyers…but to keep those buyers coming back you better have a damn good story too. But your cover and editing should be your two biggest investments when designing and publishing your book—no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

So, you whine, “Kaaaaarla, I don’t have enough money to hire a designer. And I can’t even draw stick people.”

Well, I’m going to give you a couple of money-saving tips that might help.

Tip #1: Check Craig’s List and Writer’s Forums. There are tons of freelance designers, many of them fresh out of design school, who would love the opportunity to design your book cover. Most don’t charge that much and are only looking for a good reference, so they go above and beyond. Always be sure to ask to see their portfolio so that you can see their previous work and whether their style of design fits in with your ideas.

Tip #2: Barter. Exchange service for service (and I don’t mean sexual services so get your head out of the gutter!). I know one writer who got her a graphic artist to design her book cover and in exchange she helped edit his graphic novel. You’ll never know if you don’t ask.

Tip #3: Hire someone to design the front cover only…and you do the rest.

I actually designed my spine and rear cover right on Microsoft Word and paid an illustrator to do the front cover because I didn’t have the money to pay someone to do the whole thing. I’ll admit that my first try really sucked because I didn’t go to the stores to look at back cover designs. But my second version turned out pretty dang decent. Looks like a REAL book. Note: You must have the Adobe Acrobat PDF plug in or the full standard or professional version on your computer to do this.

Here’s how I did it.

1. I opened up a new document in Word and set up my page dimensions by going to “page size” under the page layout menu. My page size is the size of the front and back cover of my book + the spine (6x9*2 + spine thickness). Lightning source, one of my printers, has a free spine calculator. You tell it how many pages your book has and what size it is, and it tells you the spine thickness based on the types of paper they use. (Note: You will usually need to make your length and width dimension about .25 longer to account for what printers call “bleed” around the outside edges. I could go into a long explanation here, but I won’t. Just do it! i.e., each box for the front and back cover is 6.25 x 9.25 and for the spine you only add .25 to the length. .71 x 9.25)

2. I set up two boxes for the front and back cover and one separate box for the spine. So, it should be in three pieces. I simply inserted the illustration in the first 6x9 box, inserted text boxes in the back cover box, and inserted a text box in the spine. Word 2007 has some great pre-designed text boxes that are great for inserting reviews and quotes from readers and reviewers. All you have to do is enter the text.

3. I cut and pasted my barcode into the bottom of the back cover and ensured that I typed in the price. (One tip for inserting your barcode: Do NOT resize after you download it from Bowker. If you do, the picture will come out pixelated and the printer won't accept it. Ask me how I know!)

4. Next, I grouped all three boxes together by holding down the ctrl button and clicking on all three boxes, hitting the right click button, and clicking on the word "group." Voila! My cover was in one single box instead of three separate ones.

5. Then, I used my Adobe PDF plug-in to convert my Word file to pdf. Be sure to select “US Prepress” and “press quality” in the preference section of Adobe to ensure the colors convert to CMYK, which is what most printers use. And that was pretty much it.

It doesn’t have to cost a million bucks for your book to look like a million bucks!

Next, I will cover the all-important topic of editing!

Until then,

Keep it real—and keep it real cheap!

Much Ado About Book Covers

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Your book cover is the single-most important marketing tool that your book will ever have. Forget what you heard, EVERYONE judges books by their covers in some respects. Although a poorly-designed front cover may not stop everyone from checking out the back cover or the first page, those people are few and far between.

I do not profess to know all the elements of book design, but I do know a little bit about the book business now and if I indie publish my second novel, there are several things I’ll be taking into consideration that I did not during the first round. So, I've created "The Four Commandments of Cover Design for Indie Publishers and Authors" A few of these principals are particularly geared toward African-American authors because, like it or not, our books are not necessarily going to be marketed like those in the mainstream. It’s just a reality you’re going to have to learn how to deal with.

1. Know where thy book will be shelved in a bookstore.

When I created the book cover for The Bum Magnet, I designed it in a bubble. I didn’t go to the bookstore to look at other books. I had NO idea whatsoever about how books were shelved and marketed by retailers. In my poor naïve little mind, I wrote a “chick lit” book, you know, women’s fiction. So, I imagined my book shelved with the Sophie Kinsellas, Emily Giffins, Erica Kennedys.

Boy was I WRONG! As an African-American author with an African-American on the cover, your book gets shelved in the African American/Urban Lit section of the store. So, instead of my book sitting among the cute colorful illustrated covers, my book was placed on the Urban lit table right between the following books. Book 1 and Book 2.

Yep! Imagine my surprise.(LOL) It's funny now that I think back on it. I was like, “It’s not supposed to be here!” because, in my head, I had shelved the book in another place in the store. Knowing what I know now, I would probably go with a fun all-text cover, so that the book could reach more mainstream audiences without looking like “Which one of these is NOT like the others?” no matter where it sits in the store.

African-American authors in particular need to understand (if not accept) the fact that retailers lump all African-American books into one big pile, with the exception of the best of the Bestsellers. Terry McMillian and the like will always have a space with other mainstream writers. Most of us will not. So, you should not write a book about women living in the '60s and expect to get shelved next to Kathleen Stockett. It's probably not going to happen UNLESS you become a bestseller. Make sure your book will attract ALL audiences that it's marketed to!

2. Know how thy book will be tagged online.

Thankfully, the big cover debacle did not spill over into the Internet world. That’s the beautiful thing about tags, which are especially important on Amazon. What’s great about tags is that the customer, not the retailer, gets to decide where your book will be shelved. The most frequently used tag on my book is “chick lit” so readers see the book as I intended them to see it. If you pull up the Amazon website and type “chick lit” in the search box, my book will come up on the first or second page. My cover fits in among the chick lit titles...yet it still stands out. That's what you want.

As an aside, make sure that you encourage people to tag your book when it’s listed on Amazon. The more frequently your book is tagged in a particular category, the sooner your book will come up when someone searches by that term. For example, I have 50 tags in the chick lit category, so my book now comes up within the first two pages if someone searches for chick lit. I don’t know about you but I may look at the first 5 screens of books in a given category before I give up, so the earlier your book comes up on a search, the better chance you have to get a sale. Encourage folks to tag your book…and please tag mine if you’re in the neighborhood. :)

3. Design thy cover to look the same as others on “thy shelf” – but different.

You want the cover to stand out, but you don’t want it to stand out in a bad way. You want your cover to be unique and similar at the same time. Sounds oxy-moronic but it’s true to an extent.
As I watched book buyers come in and peruse the books on the Urban Lit table, my poor little book was mostly overlooked. I think because the cover said, “You are waaaay out of my genre.” Even if the story might’ve appealed to from a female perspective, the cover didn’t get them. So, I moved the book over to the mainstream table and covered up another author’s book so I could squeeze The Bum Magnet in between Emily Giffin’s “Love the one you’re with” and another title that had a very colorful “chick lit-ish” cover (can't remember the name). And guess what? It got picked up within ten minutes. I moved two more books to that same table (on top of the author's book--shame on me!) and the entire supply had sold out within two weeks and the store placed a second larger order the next go around. Why? Because the cover was at least “in the family” of the kind of book they were looking to buy.

4. Thy cover MUST reflect something in thy book.

You'd think this wouldn't need to be said, but I've seen a few indie published books, which shall remain nameless, in which I could not figure out what the cover had to do with what I was reading. If your book cover doesn't reflect something in the interior, then that's literary fraud as far as I'm concerned. It should also reflect the tone. If your book is funny, the cover should give that impression. If the book is full of drama but you have a clown on the front--that's not a good thing. If you have a sexy half naked woman on the cover but there's no sex in the book, somebody's probably gonna be looking for a refund.

Anyway, you live and you learn! As an African American chick lit writer, I have a good idea of what kind of cover it will take to sell my book to African-American and mainstream audiences—a catchy title and a cover that literally sits on the fence between the two segments.

So, do your market research and DO NOT design your book cover in the bubble that is your head—the way I did. Trust me, you want your book to find its audience as quickly as possible and a little research will go a long way in helping the two meet.

Until next time

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!