Tag Archives: book sales

Selling Books in a Social World: YouTube

Posted on by under Marketing Tips

Up to this point we have discussed ways to sell books using Facebook, Twitter, and a blog. Today I want to go over how to use YouTube as a selling tool for books. Promoting a book via YouTube doesn’t mean you need to be the next Harry Potter or Twilight series with a multi-million dollar production behind you; it simply means being creative and genuine in your approach.

Goal

What is your goal for the video? Is it to gain exposure? Drive more book sales? No matter what your goal is, having a clear direction for what you want out of the video will speed up the video creation process. Each goal you have for your video will help you decide what information you need to include within the video, such as book cover, images, book purchase information and publication date.

Be Creative and Use Your Resources

Check your computer for programs that you can produce a quality video. If you have the time and creative eye this can be a great learning experience and allows you to have complete creative control. If you have the extra money and plan to make multiple videos, invest in some quality editing software such as Pinnacle Studio or Adobe Pr. QuickTime has video creation and editing software and usually comes installed on any new Mac. One great thing about QuickTime is the ability to capture screen and audio. If you have a widget and want to read a portion of the book and show the widget while reading you can! The widget can also be used as a promotional vehicle for your video as well. To see what I mean, click here!

Play to the Genre

Think about the genre of your book when you are devising a plan for your video. You want the overall look and feel of the video to match your book’s genre. For example, if you have a children’s book, using pictures, colors, and music that is all age appropriate is the way you want to go.

Keep it SHORT!

Think of this as an elevator pitch, but for the eyes. You want to make sure you are keeping the attention of the viewer, especially for a book trailer. Check out this interesting table from TubeMogul research.

By the time you his 60 seconds, half of your users have stopped watching. If you plan to push this on other social media platforms, anything around the 10-30 second range is ideal. You might be thinking “Can I really fit my 312 page novel into a 30 second pitch?” and the answer is yes. Hit 3 main points of the story, introduce your main character, leave the video on a cliffhanger, add some mood setting music, and voila! A book trailer to be proud of.

YouTube 101

Now that the groundwork is laid for your video, let’s talk platform. YouTube is like any other social network allowing shares, likes, and comments, which can take your simple video and make it a viral selling tool. YouTube videos are easily integrated within a website and other social media platforms such as; Facebook, Twitter, and a blog allowing your video to be immediately seen by all of your following. Within YouTube you can tag your video to show up when people search within the YouTube search bar, so if you have a children’s book about dogs, you might tag some keywords like; Children’s Book, Children’s Story, Fun Book, Dog Book, Children’s Dog Book, etc. Once people find your video they will watch and hopefully like it, because the more activity on the video, the higher it shows up within the organic search on YouTube.

YouTube is a great place to show off your book because it allows your book to come to life. Show off who you are as an author, show off that great book and who knows you could be one video away from your big break.

By Lee Drugan, Social Media Specialist at Bookmasters

Selling Books in a Social World: Twitter

Posted on by under General, Marketing Tips

Welcome back to Selling Books in a Social World! Last time we looked at Selling on Facebook and today we are honing in on Twitter; what you should and shouldn’t do to successfully sell your books using this social media platform.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is the fast paced social network, filled with mentions (@), hashtags (#) and short bursts of information limited to 140 characters. Twitter can be very intimidating for some authors because the 140 character limit cuts down on the amount of embellishment for each post. But learning to utilize Twitter to showcase who you are as an author can mean larger book sales.

Why should I?

Let’s do an exercise: Who is your favorite author? Would you like an inside look at their life and how they are inspired? Do you want to know how they develop characters? Do you want to know when they will publish their next book? Do you want to know if their favorite food is your favorite too?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you understand why Twitter is growing in the book world. Twitter allows fans to see authors as people instead of just names on great books. Following your favorite authors keeps you up-to-date with their newest work or where they will be holding their next book signing.

How does being on twitter lead to sales?

As a traditionally published or self-published author, the goal is to sell books. You are reading an article about Selling Books in a Social World, so I’ll take that as you wanting to sell more books for whatever reason. Selling books on Twitter is a bit tricky due to the unspoken law of the social world that says direct selling leads to unlikes and unfollows. So, be creative! Use twitter to show everyone who you are as an author and your following will start to grow. Once you have your followers hooked, then you can be creative in your selling tactics, such as, linking a review of your book for your followers to read. A positive review is the perfect selling tool to gain more sales because it showcases your talent. You could also link a blog about your book that has a cover image, book description, and buy button already on the blog.

Selling your current book is great, but what Twitter is really great for is selling your book before it’s even released. Using Twitter, you can release little pieces of information about your newest book to gain buzz. Your followers will eat this up, because you have already gained their trust and they like your current work, so hopefully the pre-orders start rolling in. As I was pitching this idea, our marketing coordinator for Bookmasters (@abandy) said she actually pre-ordered her favorite author’s book, just because she follows the author (@sarahdessen) on Twitter! Talk about the power of Social Media!

So, if you think you can hook people in 140 characters or less, then try Twitter and see how it goes. If you have questions please ask at Facebook or Twitter. Tune in next week for Selling Books in a Social World: Blogs.

By Lee Drugan (@LeeDrugan), Social Media and ePublicity Coordinator

Title Submission Deadlines

Posted on by under Department News

Bookmasters Distribution Services

Deadlines for Title Submissions

Thank you for partnering with us on your forthcoming title(s). Please abide by the following guidelines for submitting information to us so we can ensure your titles are handled in a timely manner for processing. To submit your title information, please access our New Title Form. For multiple title submissions, please contact Mark Levine at mlevine@bokmasters.com.

Fall 2012 Catalog Instructions

New & Exciting BDS News

Titles submitted between:

August 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012
will be included in the Fall 2012 Catalog

February 1, 2012 – July 31, 2012
will be included in the Spring 2013 Catalog

Timeline

New title information due:
6 months prior to book promotion

Title information disseminated to trading partners:
Approximately 30 days after new title submission

Title presented to top accounts by National Sales Managers:
Prior to publication date*

Stock due in BMI warehouse:
1 month prior to release date
Book available for distribution

Selling Season:
(Book buyers are budgeted twice a year)
Spring catalog - December through May
Fall catalog - June through November

Clock

*Note:

Top accounts include Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram. National Sales Managers use tip sheets and finished books on most occasions when they present titles. we are also an exclusive sales agent for Amazon, so please cancel your Advantage Account upon signing up with us.

It takes approximately 4-6 weeks for a title to begin to appear once we submit to the trading partners; this includes Amazon as well. For more information on FAQs about Trading Partners and their timelines, please see these posts about Book Availability and Amazon.

Photo: Dave Stokes, Creative Commons