Nov 28

We would like you to guest blog!

Marketing, Printing, publishing, Writing No Comments »

Over the past eighteen months, we have tried to provide you with information about the traditional publishing industry, print-on-demand, trends in publishing, and specifically, how Snowfall Press works and benefits both publishers and authors.

Many of the topics have been from our own personal/professional experience, with a scattering of guest blogs from other industry professionals and thought leaders. We would like to expand that. If you are an industry veteran, or a new publisher/author, we would love for you to share your experiences with Snowfall and our readers.

Why blog?

  1. Share your own experiences!
  2. Establish authority and expertise
  3. Develop new relationships with readers
  4. Improve your writing skills
  5. Increase your industry influence
  6. Expand your current base of followers
  7. And, you get a chance to build your reputation and/or brand

Would you consider guest posting?

Because our blog focuses on specific areas, our readers expect to read helpful information about these topics. We know you have something to say. Everyone does. We would like to hear your story and learn from your own experience.

To help get you started, we have adapted this list of guidelines for guest posting.

  1. The subject of the blog post should be one that fits the blog. We want you to write about publishing, printing, writing, books, technology and marketing.
  2. Be original. We don’t want to reuse the same content that you have published somewhere else, nor do we want you to republish the same post after we do. Google actually penalizes sites for duplicate content.
  3. We want to hear your voice. Don’t try to imitate our style. Be creative.
  4. Be concise. Many times length equates to effectiveness. Keep your post between 500-700 words. Or less.
  5. Use visuals. The most effective communication includes art, pictures, graphs, etc. They help engage readers.  Just make sure you have permission or copyright to these before using them.
  6. Share liberally. Make sure to drive your own people to the post. This helps us, and you. You should use a byline at the bottom of the post with a link to connect back to you directly.
  7. Engage your readers when they comment.

Submission Guidelines

If you have a post that meets the guidelines above, you can send it to me on the email david.sheets@snowfallpress.com. Please include the post in the body of the email itself, or as an attachment.

Happy blogging!

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Nov 26

The five best reasons to launch your Facebook bookstore

Marketing, publishing, Retail, Sales, Social Media No Comments »

As many of you know, Snowfall Press has created a Facebook Application that enables you to launch a bookstore on your Facebook fan page. This sales tool gives you the opportunity to create an easy, online bookstore for anyone to buy from. In fact, you can send the link (URL) from a book to a friend, or link to an image on your own website, that will take a consumer back to the product in your Facebook bookstore, where they can place their order.

If those reasons were not enough, here are five ‘best’ reasons for using Facebook.

  1. As of press time, Facebook is still free. It is free to set up a fan page, and free to load as much information about your book and about yourself on that page. The actual cost to begin marketing your content to others is pretty low if this is part of your strategy. Use your website as your main battle camp, and Facebook as your nimble outpost.
  2. More than six BILLION minutes a DAY, (more than an hour per day per user) are being spent on Facebook. Are you able to generate that sort of traffic on your website? Be where your customers are, and learn to get their attention.
  3. The average Facebook user joins two new fan or business pages per month. These pages can be used to promote your business and your writing.
  4. Facebook tools like Facebook FAN BOX and Facebook CONNECT enable interaction with Facebook, from outside the social media tool. By setting up a Facebook FAN BOX, visitors to your website, newsletter, or YouTube can become a fan of your business page without actually visiting Facebook. This has proved to be a very effective way for business to gain more fans via their website, videos, and newsletters. Facebook CONNECT is a program in which enables Facebook to interact with other sites. There are 80,000 other sites that can be connected through Facebook Connect.
  5. Your Facebook posts can go viral. No, not in the disease type of viral, but in the spread rapidly and uncontrollably – viral. This is a good thing. How do you make your posts more viral? Most people post links to things. However, most people engage with pictures and videos. In fact, photos are five times more popular than links, and videos are TEN times more popular than links.

Why do you use Facebook?

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Oct 31

Facebook Bookstore Application

Authors, Marketing, Retail, Sales, Technology, Uncategorized No Comments »

Snowfall Press is first and foremost, a technology company. We produce technology for printers who want to be part of the Snowfall Print Network. We produce technology that makes it easier for authors and publishers to print their own books. We produce technology that enables authors and publishers to distribute their books across the globe, whether it is to readers or retailers.

One of the key technologies that Snowfall has recently released is called the Snowfall Facebook Bookstore Application. This application is available to any Snowfall Press customer who has both books for sale, and a Facebook Business or Fan page. The application creates a bookstore on the fan page, where fans can purchase the book directly from the author or publisher, and the order is printed-on-demand through Snowfall’s system, and drop shipped directly to the customer.

I was recently interviewed about new technology, and I talked about this new Facebook feature for authors and publishers.

 

 

For more information about the Facebook Bookstore Application, click here.

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Oct 15

How to sell to book retailers…and which ones work best

Authors, Distribution, Marketing, Sales No Comments »

For many independent publishers, the reality of getting books placed in most or even some retailers is an uphill battle. I recently presented a seminar to a group of authors, about some of the realities of selling to book retailers, how each retail sales channel works, and what retailers (from my own sales experience) need from authors.

Realities of bookselling

On average, the local independent bookshop might carry 10-20,000 titles in their store. These would be both frontlist (new titles each season) as well as backlist titles that have been out longer than six months, and warrant still being on the shelf.

On average, large chain stores carry around 100,000 different titles in their stores, including both front and backlist.

If a bookstore brings in 25% of their inventory, as new releases (which is high, but let’s use that number for this illustration) then the local independent might have 2,500-5,000 new titles for the year. The chain will stock more based on their capacity, and might have 20-25,000 new titles in their stores.

Last year, according to Bowker, the leading publishing statistics company, there were more than 347,000 new titles released by traditional publishing houses in the market. This means less than 10% of new titles made it to the CHAIN stores, let alone the independents. Add to this traditionally published number, the number of independently published titles, which Bowker lists at more than 1.1 million new titles in 2011.

It is easy to see, that landing a book, traditionally published or not, in a bricks and mortar retail outlet, is pretty close to the same odds as winning the lottery.

Different retail channels

So what is an independent publisher or author to do? Authors should spend their limited time and resources building a platform and a tribe. A lot has been written about both subjects. I would recommend the following two books to start: Platform by Michael Hyatt, and Tribes by Seth Godin.

Retailers, no matter what channel, EXPECT an author to market to their own tribe. If you build a following however, these fans are just as likely to buy direct from you, or from an easily accessible online retailer like amazon.com or bn.com. I was surprised to recently learn, that christianbook.com is the third largest online bookseller in the world. Authors can work directly with amazon.com by using their Advantage Program which allows independent publishers to sell to Amazon on consignment.

In some cases, I have seen Christian Book Distributors, or christianbook.com, work with smaller independent publishers direct. If they choose not to work with you, they will work with distributors like Advocate Distribution Solutions to purchase product from independent publishers and authors. Either way, you can still offer your books through these retail outlets to augment the sales that you are doing direct.

What do retailers expect?

Retailers expect to work with publishers and authors who create great products, from both an editing and design standpoint. And, these products need to sell. Books that don’t sell, aren’t going to stick around. Retailers also expect to work with a professional who know THEIR business. They expect to see the following information:

  1. What is your business plan? Who is your market? What marketing do you need to do? When do you release the book? Where do you concentrate your sales efforts? How many do you need to sell?
  2. What is your promotional plan? Retail is ruled by demand. If a product is in demand, the retailer wants to sell it. If a product is not in demand, the retailer does not have the time (in most cases) to help create the demand for a product. How do you make your book stand out in the middle of the hundreds or thousands of other books that are on a similar topic?
  3. What is your release plan? This timeline is one of the most difficult concepts for authors to understand. Retailers usually need 6-9 months to plan for new titles, although online retailers can be more flexible than that. Marketing and publicity needs time to implement and planning this at the last minute usually means wasted effort and resources. For more on how independent authors might look at publicity, see my recent post called ‘Don’t rush your publishing plan…especially if you don’t have one.’

What is your own experience with selling books to retailers?

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Oct 08

Authors can drive ‘discoverability’ with their books

Authors, Marketing, Retail, Uncategorized No Comments »

I ran across this information in a news post, put out weekly by Rob Eagar, owner of WildFire Marketing. He can be reached at Rob@StartaWildFire.com. In his post, Rob mentions being at a recent conference and hearing Kelly Gallagher from www.Bowker.com, comment on a survey that Bowker recently did. Here is what he said:

“A survey of 3,000 book buyers found that women, ages 30 – 44, (a coveted key demographic) discover new books in this order:

  1. In-person friend referral
  2. In-person retail store display
  3. Visit author website
  4. Review bestseller lists

What does this research mean to you?

  1. Create tools, such as free resources, that make it easy for people to tell their friends about you.
  2. Get published with a traditional publisher who can get you shelf space in the major stores.
  3. Build an effective author website.”

Of the three recommendations, both ‘1’ and ‘2’ are doable and the author is in the driver’s seat. What are ways you can help your ‘fans’ tell others about you?

  • Use Facebook to engage fans
  • Use Facebook to physically sell your product
  • Create contests and encourage your fans to share these
  • Give away content from your books
  • Engage your fans in the writing process – let them see your progress
  • Create a ‘street team’ of loyal fans who get access to special deals/content if they do certain things to help you ‘get the word out.’

Getting published by a traditional publisher is a great goal, but not something you can build your plan around. I call it the Field of Dreams strategy. Just writing the book doesn’t mean that people are going to come publish it, and eventually come read it. This solution is becoming increasingly difficult as the number of writers in the market continues to grow.

Learn to put your time and energy behind the things that you can control and that will pay dividends for you NO MATTER which publishing direction you might take.

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Oct 03

Don’t rush your publishing plan…especially if you don’t have one.

Authors, Marketing, publishing, Uncategorized 1 Comment »

This is a guest post from Marika Flatt, founder of PR by the Book, wrote this blog post in late 2010. Because we now continue to hear the same questions from self-published authors—planning to have a late-year pub date, she wanted to update the article and run it again. Enjoy!

This blog post is for all you authors out there who are self-publishing, now or in the future! Let’s start with the big picture. There is a reason why it takes so long for the publishing process to roll out with publishing houses. It’s not unusual for there to be an 18-month window (or longer) between a publisher accepting a manuscript and the publication date. There are a myriad of reasons why this is. So much has to be done: editing, cover design, more editing, seeding the distribution pipeline, sales meetings, more editing, printing galleys (also called ARCs/ advanced review copies), etc.

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/439901

The publicity department starts working on a title approximately six months prior to the pub date. The reason for this is because they want to send galleys to publications that are book review publications, industry publications (for that topic, such as education magazines) and national media outlets (such as national TV programs). This process takes time. And, for six months leading up to pub date, the publicists are pitching, pitching, pitching (and lunching with producers for national TV shows).

So, self-published authors…what’s the big hurry? I talk to 1-2 authors per week who tell me that their pub (publication) date is this month or next month and what can we do?? First of all, you don’t want your pub date to ever be in November or December (unless it’s a holiday book).  Don’t get me wrong. Publicists stay busy during November and December, but not on books that are releasing those months. So, why?

The publishing industry has two big time frames for releasing books: the Fall (primarily September and October) and the Spring (primarily March and April). There are a few other months that are popular for releasing books, depending on genres/ topics: January for New Year’s resolution-oriented titles: February for relationship books and books from African-American authors since it’s Black History Month; May and June for beach reads, etc.

But, bottom line—the year of pub date matters most (the year is more important than the month)! I had 4 authors tell me this month that they were self-publishing and were planning to put a Nov or Dec  2011 pub date on it, and they’d done no publicity to date. WHY? When January 1st, 2012 gets here, your book is automatically “old” in the book sellers’ and book buyers’ eyes. If you just pushed it 1-2 months, it would have a 2012 copyright date and be current for another whole year. Yes, a few months makes a big difference! You want, and need, a 2012 pub date.

Now, on to the publicity end of things.  You want to give your book adequate lead time with your publicist. We need 2-6 months prior to pub date to lay the proper foundation for your book. Depending on how much time we have, we can “seed the media” in various ways and have media starting to hit during your pub date month. But, wait! What else must be done before that happens?

We must thoroughly research and read up on your materials and set you up in our system. Then we write a full set of press materials (multiple press releases, Sample Interview Questions, author bio, etc.). Then we must build our media lists: we use two separate databases. Then, and only then, can we even start pitching you to the media. The outlets must get our pitch, decide they are interested, obtain materials from us, sometimes read the book and/or press materials, decide to use it, write up their review/ feature, submit it to their publication (and if they’re a monthly, that all has to be finished at least one month prior to their issue date).

So, we could talk all day about publicity timelines and lead times, but you get the picture. Don’t rush it! One of the biggest advantages you have in self-publishing is that you get to designate your release date. Use that to your full advantage. Take your time! It’s going to benefit you in the long run to do it the right way and give your book the best chance for life.

Marika Flatt is the owner of PR by the Book, www.prbythebook.com, a publicity firm dedicated to helping authors and publishers achieve quality media exposure. After 10 years in business, PR by the Book has helped land their clients exposure in major media outlets such as TIME, NPR, and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. You can reach them at info@prbythebook.com.

 

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Sep 18

Marketing your book – make sure to tap bloggers for reviews.

Marketing No Comments »

Marketing a new book is by far the hardest part of the publishing process. Yes, I have heard writing the book is difficult too, but if you are a writer, this is the fun part. Marketing isn’t necessarily a natural thing for most writers, and probably not what most writers signed up to do when they decided to publish.

There are many ways to market a book, but one of the most consistent ways to get the reviews that you need, that will influence purchasing, is by asking bloggers to review your book. I just ran across a simple list of bloggers compiled by Lisa Williams. This seems to be a great resource to mine. Enjoy!

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Sep 12

5 Easy Facebook Fixes for Your Business, Social Media 101 for the Publishing Industry

Authors, Marketing, Social Media No Comments »

This is a guest post by Jay Echternach of Gotcha Marketing. Used with permission.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you probably have noticed that your advertising dollars in newspaper, magazines, radio and TV have gained less and less traction with your existing and new clients. This is no surprise to a vast majority of us who have shifted our efforts to the larger social media formats like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

These forward trending and aware businesses jumped ahead of the curve and started posting content on these platforms and hoped for the best. The results, unfortunately, were and have been less then stellar. Fewer and fewer customers are following their brand and they are left to wonder if this new age of social engagement is just not a picture posting format for their wives and kids!

The reality is that well executed, social media IS the new frontier for engaging your customers, especially in the world of publishing. Self-publishing has grown exponentially in the past 5 years as waves of budding authors are now able to get their books in print digitally. Having lost (or avoided) the traditional publishing path, they are left holding-the-bag in terms of getting their book sold and marketed.

Many of these new authors and small publishers turned to the world of social media and began posting and looked for the orders to roll in…and they are still waiting! What happened then? Did the digital media world suddenly collapse before they got their message out? Quite the contrary as the social media world continues to expand with newer platforms like Pinterest, Wellwer and Xanga, which are bigger and bolder platforms with millions of daily users are looking for instant connections, resources or information that fits their lifestyle or needs.

These new stewards of content (first time or self-published authors) took the age old view of advertising (think newspaper ads dominated by feature or price messaging) and began posting this on their personal Facebook page. HUGE MISTAKE!

So let’s look at the 5 Easy Facebook Fixes for Your Business:

  1. Do not post business content on your personal Facebook page, set up a fan page. That allows you to install a fangate page to garner likes and get multiple eyeballs on your Facebook fan page quickly.
  2. Create a FREE offer (think e-book!) to acquire e-mail addresses of potential clients.
  3. Think 80/20 rule; 80% relational / 20% informational. Your clients like to see pictures of your family, grandkids or latest outdoor excursion!
  4. Post visual content Facebook and the web is a visual medium, post pictures OFTEN!
  5. Hire a fun, creative agency to handle your project. We know this seems like a shameless advertisement for hiring us, but really, your hands are full running your business on a daily basis. Additionally, just because your 15 year old daughter likes Facebook, does not mean she gets how to post daily to engage your clients!

The nice folks at Gotcha Marketing are web and social media guru’s and avid readers having spent many years in the publishing world. Let them lend you a hand in creating and developing your next marketing campaign. To follow Gotcha Marketing’s blog simply click this link: www.gotchamktg.com/blog.

Jay Echternach is a web marketing strategist with Gotcha Marketing, located in Portland, Oregon. Jay’s contact info: jay@gotchamktg.com or 503.967.5646.

 

 

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Aug 16

Interview with Terry Draughon at ICRS

Distribution, Industry Events, Marketing, publishing, Retail, Uncategorized No Comments »

Terry Draughon is another industry veteran who has worked at the management levels of both large publishers and distributors. His expertise is helping publishers get their books placed at retail, and being the advocate for the publisher/author in the retail channel.

Terry is the Vice President of Sales for Send The Light/Advocate Distribution Solutions and calls on all of the large booksellers and chain retailers.

I asked Terry to share some of his experience with small publishers.

For more information about Advocate Distribution Solutions, click here. For more information about how Snowfall Press partners with Send The Light (STL) and Advocate to offer expanded distribution solutions, click here:

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Aug 14

Interview with Sarah Bolme at ICRS

Industry Events, Marketing, Retail, Uncategorized 1 Comment »

Sarah Bolme is the founder of the Christian Small Publisher Association (CSPA). Sarah invited me to share a seminar with her group the Sunday before ICRS started. I had the opportunity to talk about how retail works in the publishing supply chain, and what small publishers should do to be successful with sales channels like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other chains and independent retailers.

Sarah provides great perspective on the industry and valuable marketing tips for publishers to use to be more successful. Visit her blog for marketing tips and the CSPA website for more information about how this organization can help you.

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