Share
 
Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors–

eZine Issue
#36 September 12, 2018
Publisher: Judith Briles


Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors

In This Issue

1.  Unraveling Amazon Chaos … CreateSpace is a bye-bye
2.  More great tools that are no-brainers … two Amazon marketing tips
3.  Hot podcasts for the month coming … always a variety
4.  Webinars slated … next up—it’s all about options in publishing on September 25th
5.  Question of the Week … should I write a book proposal.

6. Book Shepherd "Fun" of the Week … musical pooch

This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s Roof:

Hello and Good Publishing Day to all of you.

This week started with a very fun day in Dexter, Michigan and the worldwide headquarters for Thomson Shore – it was there annual Booktoberfest and what fun it was to be one of the judges in the Pitchfest plus seeing the hundreds of hungry authors wanting to know what publishing was all about. All was fun under the big tent! And oh my—brats, hot dogs and beer before lunch!
Ahhh, the beach. How I love it. This week, the early morning finds me combing Cannon Beach in Oregon—looking for treasures that have been left behind as the tide pulls out. I’m taking a few R&R days from the aftermath of the Extravaganza and just doing "a hang out".
The annual Author Tea is slated for Saturday, October 27th. From 1 to 4. It’s a freebie for attendees. If you are an author and you want to be a "participant" and have your book offered, you need to do "the Ask"—email or call me. Always fun. And, always, lots of book sales. Will you be part of this year’s event? See info on my Events page.

And remember: anyone who bought my book, How to Create a $1,000,000 Speech, email me. I’ll send you the Word document of the contract featured in Chapter 14 … so you can make it "your own."



HOT NEWS … I’m opening up a Facebook Live every Monday: it will be a passed next week (I’m on a plane).

Join me on MONDAYS at Noon Mountain Time for Facebook Live with Live at Noon with Judith Briles – The Book Shepherd.


For me, it’s a shorty—always less than 30 minutes. Grab an early lunch (or a late one) and get the latest in publishing tips, author strategies, and book marketing goosing ideas. Most times, it will be just me. Sometimes, I will have a guest—someone within my team of publishing pros that I work with and refer my clients to.

Here's how to join in: you will find it on the Judith Briles - Publishing with The Book Shepherd group. Here's the deal ... it's a "closed group" meaning that you have to join it to participate.

JOIN here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BookPublishingHelp/.


I’ll post an announcement on various Facebook pages in the early AM and then again 30 minutes before we start.

See you next Monday ... bring your questions. OR email them to me at Judith@Briles.com before 11 AM Mountain Time and I will answer when I'm live. We skip the 10th (I’m on a plane and it would be a tad difficult to do). Otherwise—every Monday forward to the end of the year.
And make sure you listen in to Thursday's podcast—it’s all about the changes on Amazon.


So cool … we are closing out our annual cruise slated for next January. Check out what the faculty has in store with you … here’s a video of 30 hot tips to fast forward your author career and book marketing: https://vimeo.com/281739293

Go for it …

MEET me when I’m on the road. Anchorage, Alaska is next on my list this month; a private writing retreat in Ft. Lauderdale in early October and then at the end of the month, the Florida authors in Altamonte Springs, Florida October 18-20. It’s a busy fall coming. And I look forward to being with the Nebraska Writers Guild and the Palm Springs Writers Guild who have already booked me for keynoting their conferences next year.

You can pick my brain … minimum time is 30 minutes.
If you need one-on-one-time with me, I’m always open for a few minutes to give you some quick input. But, and it’s a BIG BUT, many call and expect far more than a few minutes. This is called a "consult" and I would be delighted to schedule time with you for "just you and your many questions" that need answers. You can book time with me it at:
https://thebookshepherd.com/pick-judiths-brain


Author Friendly Friday this week …

Author Friendly Fridays are fun, sharing and a dynamic closed group. … You can join in the next week. It’s a full hour when you can ask questions—any question. And, I always include a few strategies to get your authoring life ahead of the competition. It’s for paid subscribers ONLY and we do it on Skype.
This is how each call starts: I share a few strategies, tips and tools that attendees can immediately start to use. All share … and ask plenty of questions. They get answers. Definitely an excellent way to start a Friday. Those of you who aren’t participating, you are making a mistake. I love the variety of books and authors who have chosen to participate. What’s also fun, is the energy that can be felt with what everyone is working on. Love it!

Here’s the link to take advantage of it and subscribe
: https://thebookshepherd.com/product/author-friendly-fridays-subscription

And, what, there’s more. We have all new webinars set up for September and October. Details below.

AND … How’s your week going?



 
1  
CreateSpace is a bye-bye
Things are changing and they are changing fast. If you are using Amazon’s Create Space … it goes away this month. KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing --- and I wonder why they didn’t call it ADP-Amazon Direct Publishing, but I digress), the CS team will disappear. All those folks who you could call—goodbye.

This is the notice that is being sent out on a "rolling basis" to CreateSpace authors. Why not all at once? There are too many of them!


Hello,


We’re excited to announce that CreateSpace (CSP) and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) will become one service, and in the coming days, we will give CreateSpace members the ability to move their account and titles. To ensure a quality experience, we will add links to the CreateSpace member dashboard in phases so authors may see it at different times. As a reminder, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) now offers Expanded Distribution to sell your paperbacks to physical bookstores in the US, as well as the ability to sell your paperback books on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.au (Amazon.mx coming soon). With these features, KDP’s paperback distribution will be on par with CreateSpace’s distribution. KDP also offers features that aren’t available on CreateSpace. These include the ability to purchase ads to promote paperbacks on Amazon.com and locally printed author copies in Europe.


As a result of these enhancements to KDP and our ongoing efforts to provide a more seamless experience for managing your paperback and digital books, CreateSpace and KDP will become one service. On KDP, your paperbacks will still be printed in the same facilities, on the same printers, and by the same people as they were on CreateSpace.


In a few weeks, we’ll start automatically moving your CreateSpace books to KDP. Your books will remain available for sale throughout the move and you’ll continue to earn royalties. Once we begin this process you’ll be unable to edit existing titles or create new titles on CreateSpace.
If you have a release planned soon or you would like to start the move yourself, we are making updates that will allow you to move your entire catalog in just a few steps. During this transition, you can contact KDP customer support by email and access phone support in English.


There are a few payment and printing fee differences associated with the move. Going forward you will be paid on KDP’s payment schedule. CreateSpace pays monthly royalties 30 days after the end of the month in which they were earned while KDP pays monthly royalties approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which they were earned. As a result, you’ll be paid in September for any royalties earned in August on CreateSpace and be paid in October for any royalties earned in August on KDP. In addition, some low-page count books will see an increase in printing fees when they are printed in the UK and EU. This affects a small number of titles. If your titles are affected by this change, you will receive a separate email on this topic. Learn more about KDP’s printing fees here.


To learn more about the moves and reviews the latest, visit here. We’ll be in touch with more updates in the coming weeks.


It is still Day 1 for independent publishing. As Amazon’s recent shareholder letter noted, there are more than a 1,000 authors who earn more than a $100,000 a year from their work with us. We could not be more optimistic about the future of independent publishing and this change will allow us to innovate faster for you.


Best Regards,


The CreateSpace and KDP Team


Okay, so what is an author to do? Good question …

First, you need a Kindle account—if you don’t have one, start here:


Second, I suggest you read Amy Collins’ recent article in Joel Friedlander’s blog. It covers the details.

Third, listen to Thursday’s—that’s tomorrow—podcast on AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing – Amy and I go into detail and items that have happened since the roll-out started. Here’s the link


One thing to note … if you have put your book up on CreateSpace within the past month, most likely you ran into a few hiccups. Many of the normal publishing fonts weren’t being recognized and books were garbled. If you are used to getting paid royalties for book sales every 30 days, that will change—it’s now 60 days. One advantage is that you will be able to see all your reporting stats in one place, a big improvement.


2
More Great Tools


My kick butt suggestions to goose up Amazon marketing


1.   Starting using Amazon Marketing Services … the click and pay mode. Know your keywords; who your comparables are (and then use their author names and titles as keywords); write your "ad copy" using essential keywords that grab the reader, and start now.


2.    Update your Author Central Account … profile, events, add videos, link to your blog. Then look at your Book detail page—does it have a headline with a keyword or two in it? DO you have paragraph breaks? Make it easy reading. If you have key reviews—move them into the detail page and use the bold or italic feature to make them pop out. Make it so.

 
3
Hot podcasts slated for May - August
In SEPTEMBER

· Discover the Power of StoryRocket with Ana Benitez
· What the Hell is Going on with Amazon and Create Space with Amy Collins
· Revising and Repurposing What You’ve Already Done with Anne Janzer 
· Tips for Authors and Writers to Keep the IRS Beast Away with Abby Eisenkraft
Here’s the master link for iTunes: http://bit.ly/PublishingPodcast

And, if you have listened, support our podcast and post a review. Thank you!


4
More Webinars are coming … more Webinars are coming

 
October 24 at 5 MT
Graphics Secrets to Create Eye-Popping PowerPoint Slides

Have you ever been in a presentation and gone blurry because the slides being used are the pits?
Or …

· How many times have you been in an audience and the slides used by the speaker are unreadable?
· How many times have you watched a webinar and the slides are boring?
· How many times have you felt that a presenter’s slides are awful?

If you are like me … the answer is LOTS!

In fact, most slides are mediocre, print is either too small or too much and not engaging.

Not after October’s webinar. We are going to show you how to create eye candy. Slides that connect "brain wise" with your viewers and audiences. Slides that get your point across immediately. Slides that are 21st Century … not yesteryear’s newsprint quality.

Get ready for Graphics Secrets to Create Eye-Popping PowerPoint Slides in LESS than One-Minute!

· If you are a speaker or speaker-to-be … you need to be here.
· If you are educating your audience and plan on using visuals … you need to be here.
· If you are doing any type of interaction this uses slides and PowerPoint, you need to be here.

It’s all happening on Wednesday, October 24th at 5 PM  Mountain Time it will only go one hour, including questions. Short. To the point. Effective.


REGISTER: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4844427734412081154

Your presenter is Dr. Jaclyn Kostner, a webinar management expert. She’s a best-selling business author with 20+ years of expertise in training people how to design and create engaging eLearning webinars, presentation webinars, and collaborative virtual team meetings for Fortune 500 clients. She has an exceptional understanding of how to make webinars engaging, interactive, and fun for clients worldwide. Jaclyn is a proven leader innovating how humans communicate, collaborate, and connect in the virtual workplace.

Get ready to sizzle. See you there …


 


Get ready to swoon when you discover TipGraphics and how to do them. Who else but Book Marketing Experts John Kremer would know everything you need to know about Pinterest and didn't know what (or when) to ask to lead a session on soaring your book sales using this global platform? Really … who else!

Along with Daniel Hall, they will reveal why:

- Pinterest continues to be a great way to drive free traffic to any book listing or offer you have.

- How marketing legend John Kremer uses Pinterest to consistently generate traffic for free.

- How to create the secret sauce that TipGraphics will deliver.

Definitely be here ... The session will be recorded and you will be sent the replay--whether you attend live or can't--we will send it out. And ALL your questions will be answered.



Click on the video below to view our Pinterest webinar. It’s long—have a pen/pencil and notepad. Get ready to pause it. Have a favorite beverage and snacks—there are so many chewy moments. It includes multiple LIVE demonstrations.

Watch webinar video: https://realfastsocialgraphics.com/judith


August 8 - Discover and Use the Cash Cow 2-Step to Sell More Books without Using Social Media and Paid Advertising
Yup, you read it right: sell more books … lots more books … without the pressure of social media or any paid advertising. How cool is that?

Get ready for a VERY HIGH CONTENT informational webinar on how to sell mega cases of books without paying for advertising and engaging in social media mania. It’s all about the Speaking Cash Cow 2-Step for Authors: your words and your mouth. Listen in now … it will go away on Tuesday, August 14:

· Why you should be speaking on your book and expertise.
· How to structure any presentation that connects with attendees.
· How to support your key points and engage any audience.
· What you need NOW on your website that every meeting planner is looking for.
· Use a game-changing snail mail marketing tip.
· How to make money.
·  And of course, much more.

If that sounds like it’s a fit, then get ready to tune in, turn on and drop out for a bit. I’ve got plenty for you.

Here’s the replay: https://vimeo.com/284125590


July 25 Pop Up with Publishing Power Tips

AUGUST 15
How to Create a Caviar Audiobook on a Tuna Fish Budget


Did you know that audiobook sales revenue is up 32% so far for the year 2018? Do you have an audiobook to take advantage of this growing market?

Are you doubtful as to whether creating one makes dollars and sense? Are you uncertain as to how to have one made?
Don't miss this opportunity to join the Audiobook Revolution!

Here’s the replay: https://vimeo.com/285261749

You’ll discover:

  • What's brand new in the audiobook world
  • The new audiobook creation competition for Amazon and Audible
  • How to independently publish your audiobook yourself or with help
  • How authors can make more from their audiobooks than their eBooks
  • The key steps to set your audiobook up for success
  • Planning your next audiobook (key decisions)


You can have an audiobook version of your book created (with help!) for hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. Here's how!


5
Questions of the Week:


Question: Should I write a "book proposal" even if I don’t plan to traditionally publish?

Answer: It makes you think … and put it on paper. Having a book proposal means you need to get focused. It becomes a marketing plan … to starting thinking about what you need to do, starting now, to make the connections. How to Write a Book Proposal was recently published, authored by agents Jody Rein and Michael Larsen. They’ve seen a gazillion of them and know which worked and why … and they tell you. Loaded with examples, I recommend to all.
6
Book Shepherd "Fun" or an "Uh-Oh" of the Week
Love it when I find a fun shorty—a quick smile, a laugh out loud, a sip of tea … and back to work—perfect. Let’s cheer for the piano dog!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-feHD7VC3U


That’s my author and publishing news for today … what’s yours?


About Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd

Book Publishing expert Judith Briles, aka The Book Shepherd
has shepherded more than 1,000 authors and created 500 best-sellers and award-winning books. She knows publishing inside and out from both the traditional and independent sides. Judith is an advocate for authors within her blogs, podcasts and speaking engagements. What’s her pet peeve? Two words: publishing predators.

She hosts the podcast AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing that generates over 100,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.

The Book Shepherd
 
 
 
 


Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign