Reach More Readers

Mark Cocker, Founder of Smashwords teaches serious writers how to reach more readers in his coming ebook, The Seven Secrets To Ebook Publishing Success.

Secret #1-- Write a great book.

Ninety percent of your book’s success is determined by its quality . The other ten percent is marketing and luck. If your book is poorly edited or poorly conceived, readers will reject it. If you write a great book that satisfies readers, they will reward you with their word-of-mouth. Don’t rush your book before it’s ready to be read. A good cover image adds to the reader’s enjoyment of the book.

Secret #2-- Write another great book. each new book gives the author an opportunity to reach new readers and earn their trust. At the end of each book, add a section titled, “other books by this author”. Think of each book as a fish hook in the ocean. Each book is an advertisement for the others.

Series writers are among the most successful. Once a reader becomes emotionally invested in a series, they’ll want to read the complete series. Don’t cut corners. Don’t divide a single full-length book into multiple shorter ebooks. Readers hate this and they will review your book poorly.

Secret #3-- Maximize distribution. If your book is not broadly distributed, it’s not discoverable and purchasable. With ebooks, never choose one retailer over another. Choose them all.

Secret #4-- Give some of your books for free. Free books receive 20-30 times more hits than paid books. If you have a series, offer the first title of the series for free. Hook the reader.

Secret #5-- Patience is a virtue. Ebooks never go out of print. Sometimes a book starts poorly for months, and then suddenly takes off. Give your book time to develop a solid base of reviews.

Give readers the option to shop where they like, and offer direct link to each retailer.

Secret # 6-- Trust your partners and readers. Writers often worry about things that don’t exist. Control the urge. Don’t be afraid of piracy. Let you readers share your ebooks with their friends. Trust your readers. Some bestselling authors consider piracy as a form of marketing.

Secret #7-- Marketing starts yesterday. If you wait until your book launch to start marketing your book, you’re too late. The moment you start writing a book, you should start marketing yourself, the author.

Cultivate your social network. The idea is not to attract thousands of followers on Twitter and Facebook so you can spam them with with solicitations for your book. Instead, contribute to the success of fellow authors. They are your partners, not your competitors. Enlist them as members of your volunteer work force.

Books are a word of mouth business, and always will be.

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A lie that brings a smile... or the truth that draws tears?

Dr. Olivia Crane lives a quiet life. No one questions why she doesn’t socialize or where she spends her weekends. When the visiting physician from France strolls into her office, with open arms and a confident smile, her perfect control is about to crumble. He’s Dr. Luc George, the man she loved ten years ago. Should she return his scorching kisses, or should she lock her door before he digs into her many secrets?

Secret daughter, secret friend, secret enemy. Had Luc really known his sweet Olivia back then? He wants her back, but he wants the truth too. Now, Olivia has to face her past before she can grab her second chance.

NOVELISTS, Inc Conference

NEW TOOLS,  NEW RULES

Ninc, 22nd Annual Conference, at the TradeWinds Island Resort, St. Pete Beach, FL

The Ninc is an organization for published authors and industrial professionals.

The title of this conference was:
The New Publishing: Welcome To Tomorrow

Hundred and sixty-eight people attended, mostly published authors and some publishers and marketing specialists.

On this panel from left to right:

Mark Coker: Founder and CEO, Smashwords.

Liz Scheier: Editorial Director, Digital Content, Barnes & Noble. com

Linda Quinton: VP of marketing , Tor-Forge

Don Weisberg: President, Penguin Young Readers

David wilk, Creative Management Partners.

The speakers on the first panel explained what traditional publishers still offer.What alternative publishers do? How sustainable is self-publishing?

Don Weisberg-- Opportunities for writers are greater but also more difficult. Penguin works with authors as a partnership. They don't look for a book but for an author to develop.

Linda Quinton--she loves to spend time working with the community, talking and listening to what they love.

Lou Aronica, publisher of The Story Plant-- small press focuses on one area. They know where the readers are and they don't mind working all the hours of day and night. Digital opened more sales. according to him, authors should focus on one genre to develop readership. Readers are more interested in things than we give them credit for.

Caolyn Pittis, senior VP at Harper Collins--They have seen a lot of changes. There are two markets: Value Market that gives bestsellers and seller markets.
Editors and readers alike want to be touched by what you write. Books with vampires or such characters are more likely to be pirated.

Mark Coker: Founder of Smashwords: He and his wife wrote a novel that was rejected by publishers. He ended up publishing it on his own, then he published two books for friends, the year after he published 100 books, and the year after 80,000 ebooks! It's a great time to publish ebooks. Publishers and editors acquire what they think will sell, but they release it after 10-16 months. By then the readers look for something else. Also self-published authors set more realistic prices than publishers. Consumers are looking for less expensive. Blog about subjects related to your book.

Liz Scheier: Barnes &Noble sells150,00 ebooks a day.

From Left to right: Thubten Comerford, CEO WePost Media
Tracee Gleichner: Founder and CEO, Literal Exposure
Joan Schulhafer: Publishing; Media Consulting

Whether you're working with a publishing house or on your own, you have to find your readers. This is easier and harder than ever. You either need money or time to do it.You can use a publicist to help you. The people above are expert in the field.

They do the advertising for you, while you keep writing. Price: $250 per module--they will specify what the module includes, or $249 for two months to promote one book with a virtual blog tour the publicist arranges in blogs that have over 1000 hits a day. Of course you write the blogs on subjects she suggests. Price also includes sending newsletters, notes on Facebook,  Tweets and Re-Tweets. and others...

Doing your own marketing is considerably cheaper, as long as you have a huge amount of time to do it. Build a useful social media presence, email list, and web presence.

The quality and distinctiveness of what you write has never been more important for writers. If you manage to bring readers to your book, you want them to find a long list of good reviews.



 Special at amazon.com for $0.99

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I Did It

Last night I was watching an old video tape of My Fair Lady to relax and put myself to sleep. Remember that scene with Professor Higgins, Captain Pickering and Eliza in the background? Mr. Higgins is singing: “I did it”, when he manages to change the scruffy flower girl into the belle of the British society.

Two days ago, we heard loud shrieks coming from various states. “I did it,” several friends and fellow writers squealed after receiving phone calls announcing that their entries were Golden Heart finalists.

“I did it,” many Roses share their good news on TWRP loop when receiving 4 or 5 stars reviews while others jump up and down and announce their first sales. I did it!! I did it!!

Allow me to share my little story as I, too, want to say, I did it. Last year, I smiled with delight when I stepped on the scale and realized I reached my ideal weight. Hmm...unfortunately I stopped smiling as I loaded back ten pounds. Maybe I can do it again.

"I did it,” I shouted a few months ago when my contemporary romance Rx FOR TRUST was a finalist in Epicon.

“I did it,” I sighed with relief when I successfully presented a talk to my former company and received a standing ovation.

“I did it,” my daughter told me on the phone when she was finally able to walk with high heels after a difficult year of ankle surgery, cast, therapy and special care.

And now, I am ready to dance again as my fifth book will be released in ten days. Yes, I am counting the days.

An American Pediatrician

A Russian Surgeon

A woman who lost a son and frantically avoids marriage and family

A man with four adorable sons who badly need a mother

Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?

“Mona Risk writes heroes with heart, heroines with spunk in stories and settings that are simply unforgettable!" -- Roxanne St. Claire, Killer Curves, National Bestseller.

I am sure you all have success stories. Would you care to share them with us?

eReaders

My Christmas letter to Santa Claus is written. I told him I have been a good girl and wrote TWO books this year, BABIES IN THE BARGAIN and PRESCRIPTION FOR TRUST, both published with The Wild Rose Press. As I explained to Santa, I deserve the toy I so badly want:
An eREADER

During the past few months, I had several discussions with my husband on the subject. We kept fluctuating from Sony to Kindle, back to Sony, back… We studied every model sold by Sony and Amazon. Somehow he managed to show me all the negative comments he could dig out of the Internet. Three months later, my husband convinced me the eReader was not yet good enough for me.

When I attended the Romanticon Conference organized by Jasmine Jade (Elloras Cave and Cerridwen Press) half the attendees had an eReader in hands, for some it was a Sony, for others a Kindle. I asked them a lot of questions. Every person gushed with delight over her eReader and highly recommended it. I came back determined to buy my own.

My dilemma is still the same. Sony or Kindle?

The Kindle is light, easy to hold and manipulate. It would allow me to download books from Amazon.com but not from my own computer, which means I couldn’t copy the ebooks I already saved on my computer onto my new eReader.

Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)


The Sony is smaller, heavier. It would allow me to buy ebooks from the various publishers and to download from my computer but not to buy from Amazon.

The Reader Pocket Edition and Reader Touch Edition are definitely capable of taking on Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.


Help. Please share your experience. I need to specify to Santa which brand I want before he takes things into his own hands.

JUNE FIRST

• Why is that date so important?
  
  Because I promised myself I will start advertising my new book, BABIES IN THE BARGAIN.
  
  
  If you've ever watched ER, or Gray's Anatomy or Scrubs or Private Practice, you will love my medical romance. I am a big fan of Gray's Anatomy and never missed an episode.
  
  BABIES IN THE BARGAIN is a sweet and spicy medical romance that finaled or won many contests before publication: Launching A Star, The Beacon, Great Expectations;
  Golden Gateway; Gotcha; Enchanted Words; The Suzannah; Winter Rose; Linda Howard Award of Excellence.
  
  BABIES IN THE BARGAIN will be released on July 03, 2009 at The Wild Rose Press, both as an ebook and paperback. It will be available at Amazon.com and other distributors.
  
  I will try to post daily, but by now you should know me. I may often miss because of so many responsibilities toward people I love.
  
  At the end of my posts, I may ask an easy question you should answer or send you to look at something interesting. Are you game?
  
  Here is a list of my prizes, mostly books or exotic magnets to post on your fridge.
  
  Paranormal Romance:
  Lady of Light And Shadow by NY Bestselling author C.L. Wilson
  The Scorpion & the Seducer by Bonnie Vanak, specialist of Egyptian historical/paranormal
  Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank, The Nightwalkers series.
  The Magic Knot by American Contest/RT winner Helen Scott/Taylor, my wonderful critique partner
  
  Historical Romance:
  Tempted Tigress by Jade Lee, USA Today Bestselling author
  A Little Bit Wicked by NY Bestselling author Victoria Alexander
  The Naked Baron by Sally MacKenzie
  
  Adventure and Romance: Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr
  
  A thriller: The Death Dealer by the incomparable Heather Graham from my local chapter FRW.
  
  HQ Supperromance A Not So Perfect Past by Golden Heart winner Beth Andrews
  
  Several medical romances by Margaret McDonagh, Carol Martinelli, Melanie Milburne, Lilian Darcy , Olivia Gates,...
  
  Copies of my own romantic suspense ebooks: To Love A Hero and French Peril
  
  Wow, if you like to read wonderful books, stop by my blog and play with us.

Quotes and Jokes

Two quotes and a joke to brighten your weekend.

Quotes:
The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing-- Ken MacLeod
The greatest rules of dramatic writing are conflict, conflict and conflict-- James Frey


Joke: Sunday School
Little Mary was not the best student in Sunday School. Usually she slept through the class. One day the teacher called on her while she was napping, ''Tell me, Mary, who created the universe?'' When Mary didn't stir, little Johnny, an altruistic boy seated in the chair behind her, took a pin and jabbed her in the rear. ''God Almighty !'' shouted Mary and the teacher said, ''Very good'' and Mary fell back to sleep. A while later the teacher asked Mary, ''Who is our Lord and Savior?'' But Mary didn't even stir from her slumber. Once again, Johnny came to the rescue and stuck her again. ''Jesus Christ!'' shouted Mary and the teacher said, ''Very good,'' and Mary fell back to sleep. Then the teacher asked Mary a third question, ''What did Eve say to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?'' And again, Johnny jabbed her with the pin. This time Mary jumped up and shouted, ''If you stick that damn thing in me one more time, I'll break it in half!'' The Teacher fainted.

E-BOOKS— for a Happy Future

Are ebooks the new trend in reading? Or are readers reluctant to buy them?

Since my first book was released from Cerridwen Press as an ebook, it seemed fitting to discuss the reasons people read or don’t read ebooks.

I personally discovered ebooks a couple months ago. Somehow I thought it would be difficult to download them. Well the first time I bought an ebook, I couldn’t believe it took exactly ten seconds for the download. Doubting my own sight, I checked. The book was here, saved in Adobe on my computer. By the way, the first e-book I bought was Mad About Mirabelle by Amarinda Jones. I read it on my monitor screen at a comfortable font size. It was easier to read than printed books with tiny letters and provided a good break from writing while I sat at my computer, reading, laughing and relaxing.

After my first attempt, I became an advocate of ebooks. You can buy them from the comfort of your office. And they are easier to store. I have four floor-to-ceiling bookcases. On the first shelf of the one across from my desk, my father’s books are proudly displayed. On the second and third shelves, I have arranged the autographed books of my published friends and authors of my chapters. My bookcases are full, some with double rows of books. In addition, I have two big boxes of favorite old books, mostly historicals. How I wish they were all ebooks. It’s becoming an issue in my household to buy a new book without giving away an old one to make room.

As Liz Jasper said in a recent post on the Pink Fuzzy Slippers blog: Some readers like the fact that e-books allow authors to push the boundaries of prescribed genres: romance with mystery, or mystery with romance or maybe ghosts or shape shifter's in a hard-boiled mystery. It may be hard to find such novels in a traditional bookstore because, since they don't fit neatly into a specific section of a bookstore. Traditional publishers aren't willing to take the risk that an audience will find them. Well said, Liz.

I recently heard from a friend whose son lives in Japan that over there some schools have replaced all printed books with ebooks. The kids don’t have to carry a heavy load on their way to school, just their eReaders, and at school they use computers. Who knows, it may not be long before ebooks slowly replace the printed books.

By the way, I travel often and I can’t carry too many books with me, especially with some airlines charging for each suitcase checking. Since I read mostly when I am away from home, I'm looking for an eReader to buy before my next trip. I will download as many ebooks as I can and enjoy them while I am away from home.

So why are some people reluctant to read ebooks?

Tell us why you like or don’t like to buy and read eBooks?


You can also stop to check Anny Cook’s blog www.AnnyCook.blogspot.com and Kelly Kirch’s blog http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ Anny is running a contest. Enter now to win free books! If you need to brighten your day with a smile, check Amarinda Jones's blog, www.AmarindaJones.blogspot.com. And if you own and love pets, the place to go is Sandra’s Cox blog, http://sandracox.blogspot.com/