Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Tue, Oct 18, 2011 @ 06:28 PM
Author Name: Laura L. Valenti
Book title(s): The Heart of the Spring, The Heart of the Spring Lives On, Between the Star and the Cross: The Choice
Marketing Subject: Courting The Media
Recently, a few media contacts, I’ve been working on, in some cases, for a full year, have finally come to fruition. In June 2010, my first novel, The Heart of the Spring, was published and I began the media chase to get the needed publicity to sell books. After all, publication is just the first BIG step.
Unless your name is Stephen King or John Grisham, your next BIG step is marketing and that takes as much, if not more time, sweat and energy than writing the book in the first place.
The Heart of the Spring, a historical novel set in 1924 tells the story of the beginning of Missouri’s first state park, Bennett Spring in southwest Missouri. As an area resident for over 30 years, I’ve written several historical articles on Bennett Spring for various publications. With that foundation, I placed a fictional family in the 1924 Ozarks and voíla, a novel was born. I’ve been blessed in that it has been well received by reviewers and readers, selling more than 700 copies in just over a year. The Bennett Spring Park Store concessionaire sells it in his store as do several other local stores. It is available on my website BetweentheStarandtheCross.com as well as Infinity’s website. In August 2011, the sequel, was also released. The Heart of the Spring Lives On picks up the story and same characters, 11 years later. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was in the park (and many other parks across the nation), building the many features we know today as Bennett Spring State Park. Many who have read it, are already asking, when will the third one be available? (The answer: The Heart of the Spring Forevermore will be available next summer.)
Even so, one must continue to court the media and recently, it occurred to me that this is the very same struggle we face with editors and publishers. Once again, we, the writers, must present our work in an abbreviated form as we try to convince the local newspaper editor, commentator, or radio show host that our book is of interest to the general public and worth a few column inches or a bit of their air time. And once again, we run into the same obstacles. What if the media person we are writing to, emailing, calling or otherwise attempting to contact (dare I say FACEBOOKing or Tweeting?) doesn’t like our topic or knows nothing of it?
Years ago, my first book by a traditional publisher was about adoption, but when I was interviewed by a single man on television, it was disastrous. And then there are editors and news folks who are too busy, overwhelmed, or ‘scared’ of independently published authors.
When an article I’d been working on for nearly a year came out in the newspaper the night before a book signing, the result was 26 books sold at a very small book store on Labor Day weekend. And in early October, I was interviewed on a local TV talk show. The interviewer told me beforehand, he loved historical novels!
Just like when writing the book, a writer cannot allow herself to become overly discouraged. When the media seems to ignore your efforts—learn to bide your time, try a different reporter or a different approach, just like you would with a publisher, an agent, or an editor. Keep your professional ‘cool’, keep working, keep praying! and you will prevail.
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Thu, Sep 01, 2011 @ 06:31 PM
By: Susan Rich Sheridan
Books: Saving Literacy and Handmade Marks
Marketting subject: Interview with a local tv station
Amherst Media (ACTV) in Amherst, MA contacted me about giving an interview about my work with scribbling, drawing and writing.
I accepted this invitation, prepared, and was able to give an interview which I hope will prove useful.
My interviewer, a mother, had reached me via my website. Finding an interviewer who is interested in your work is important to your
being able to fully get your ideas across. I was lucky that my interviewer found me. This interview is now on blip.tv and also on you-tube. I have posted the interview on my fb location. Videos are the way to get information across at this point in media history. I am hoping that this way of spotlighting the importance of mark-making to the natural unfolding of the brain/body system will be effective. I also hope that my "plugging" other authors' work on the importance of hearing and sound gets out there.
My books are barely selling even though they are listed with amazon and Barnes and Noble. I am hoping that this video interview will boost sales, for the sake of children's linguistic development in the context of healthy, informed early development.
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 @ 08:00 PM
Simplicity Series:
From time to time we see articles that are well written and provide good information in clear and simple language to help our authors. This month’s article is written by Sunny Nash and it does a great job of discussing some of the core components of Internet marketing and how to achieve success.
Get Free and Effective Online Book Marketing,
Author Publicity and Brand Equity
To sell books, authors use social media networks as marketing tools for building brand equity and getting free book publicity by sharing online conversations, posts, book excerpts, links, videos, photographs and text files with family, friends, fans and professionals.
Book and eBook authors are creating internet presence using social media and free internet publicity tools by marketing books and services using internet communities, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Digg. In addition, there are free opportunities to market books on Google and Yahoo through their search engine submission services, communities and blogs.
By having your book appear on all or some of these websites, you can begin to build brand equity, the perceived value assigned to your name, the name of your book and your services in the marketplace, which in this case, is the internet. As you build a target audience that has an interest in you, your name, book and services derive real commercial value to accompany your brand equity, causing your stock to rise, so to speak, and allowing you to cash in on your name and reputation.
Using a larger group of online fans on Facebook, for instance, you can further define smaller communities to build around you as an author, expert and public speaker, establishing yourself as an authority and giving this target audience a better chance to get to know you. Acquaintance with what you have to say could encourage an online fan or friend to consider hiring you to speak to their civic, social or professional group. which may lead to consulting contracts in your professional area.
Many authors write books as extensions of articles and in-depth investigatory projects that may have been part of their academic curriculum, research, literary collections or newspaper and magazine columns. With this professional background, authors can truthfully claim a specialty in particular professions and bill themselves as such. Other authors have written books about their hobbies, such as gardening, cooking, design, sewing, dance, boating, travel, photography. Get the picture? Don't forget to take pictures and video to use in your online marketing or eBook production.
With all those text files, photographs and video, collected for your book or eBook, you can now generate scripts for a video production or a series of video projects for YouTube, adding to the amount of free book publicity available to you. Videos can give potential audiences a chance to see and hear a sample of your presentation. Try to make this presentation into a mini production and not just a talking head. Add graphics, photographs or other video clips over your voice to give the presentation interest and additional value. Videos can be made into book trailers, short author biographies and video business cards. You may need a bit of professional assistance to get your video project started. The more professional your video productions look, the more likely they are to be picked up by other video services, giving you even more exposure, free book publicity and brand equity.
Whatever your reason for writing a book, it doesn't take a large number of internet fans, friends and followers to effect the momentum you need for success as an author, expert, public speaker and professional consultant. One online contact is all it takes to get the free book publicity sequence started. You tell the audience you are available for personal appearances, public speaking events, book signing engagements, consulting and coaching; and then direct them to your internet pages to read about you, your book and your professional specialty. Imagine, one contact responds to your message. There you go! But remember, no one can read your mind or between the lines. Spell out clearly what action you want your audience to take. Then give them step-by-step instructions on how they should take each action.
- Buy your book?
- Hire you to speak?
- Contract with you as a consultant?
- Employ you for staff coaching?
Social media networks can help you build relationships and establish or enhance your internet presence because, within social media networks, you can create interest groups with whom you may talk about appropriately selected topics. If you are an author, these topics should include your book, a point of interest for online and live audiences, as well. Most times the intrigue my audiences have with me as an author is the fact that I have done what many people in the audience either want to do or think they can do--write a book. Many questions center on the writing process. Don't discourage their curiosity. Use whatever you have to capture interest. Then, show them a video and talk about your book, how you went about writing your book and how your book supports your consulting specialty.
- The facts are these.
- Technology allows us to tell our online friends, fans and followers about our books
- Internet communities can be supportive of our books and events
- Audiences must believe we are being informative rather than exploitive
- You are not allowed to sell books and services in some online communities
BE SURE to read the fine print in the terms of use section before you check the box. As competition for membership in certain internet groups becomes more competitive, those groups are beginning to take the terms of use section more seriously. When you check the box and type in the code, you are signing a legally binding contract to abide by rules and to uphold standards of that particular online community, which may not allow a participant to sell on its website. Those sales compete with paid advertisers on the website. Don't take for granted that all communities have the same policies about sales. They don't.
Some websites that do not allow you to sell your book or services may still be a great place for branding your name and book. Beyond official policies, community members have their own ways to deal with those who deviate from accepted community conduct. Many members belong to several similar online groups and will be on the lookout for you and your tactics. They have the option of removing your posts from their pages where their friends may have seen your posts; or they can de-friend or un-follow you. Like in the community where you live, your un-neighborly reputation will follow you from community to community, where you will eventually find yourself friendless and alone with no book sales, speaking events or consulting contracts.
- Be Subtle
- Tell Your Story
- Don't Sell
Evolving social media marketing for free publicity and brand equity can lead to book and services sales and public speaking events. However, the use of social media can backfire! If members of your online communities believe you are trying to take advantage of them, they will reject your message. Remember, these are real people, not inanimate technology or extensions of search engines. Make sure what you are offering--how-to instructions, free sample products, gifts, coupons, discounts, invitations, advice, jokes or whatever--is something they can see as being useful in their lives or careers.
In your social media network or online professional community, treat people with respect. Speak to them as equals and communicate with them in the same way you would communicate with friends in other areas of your life. If you do not treat people with regard, you will alienate your potential target audience and you will not receive an abundance of book sales or invitations for public speaking events or consulting and services contracts.
ALL OF THIS may sound foreign and daunting, but effective book marketing through social media can be achieved easily by grouping friends and fans into categories to suit the conversations and discussions you intend to share with each online group. Conversations, discussions and posting can lead your target audience to read an excerpt from your book, an excerpt that you can upload in an online press release or article. Write your own promotional materials. You can do this! After all, you wrote a book!
My college journalism professor and advisor at Texas A&M University, the late Skip Leabo, told me, "If you can write, then you can write your own ticket to a good life." Skip gave me that nugget before we arrived at the door of the World Wide Web. It took me a number of years to understand exactly what he meant. Now, I know. As the writer, I can assume an active role in my destiny.
- Write my books using online tools
- Use free technology to publicize my events
- Shape public opinion about my books
- Brand my name and my titles
As an author you will most likely want to join author groups online to increase your visibility among other authors, publishers and literary agents. Literary agents and publishers are attracted to author groups because these groups provide a large talent pool. Also, author groups give you unlimited possibilities for enhancing the standing of your book, while creating a community with whom you can share your book, press releases, articles and author biography.
Further, your membership in social media networks gives members a chance to share their books, articles and press releases, giving you the opportunity to comment on those pages. Comments on other writers' pages can get you professional recognition, which will lead readers to your website or blog that contains your information and excerpts. On those pages, potential target audiences can get a taste of your creative side and a glimpse of who you are. Your social media community may read your author biography and book excerpt, and be inspired to invite you to speak in front of their group.
Once you get yourself comfortably in front of an audience at a public speaking event, you can deliver your message about your book, let people get to know you and, at the same time, persuade them that you are knowledgeable about writing, editing, marketing or other services you offer for a fee. In front of your audience, you can sell yourself, reserve further public speaking events, and attract lucrative consulting contracts. All of this can be accomplished using social media. Be sure not to use hard-selling tactics in public speaking events. The best way to sell anything--anything at all--is to sound not like a salesperson, but to sound like a friend.
To take full advantage of your social media network, you could invite your local social media community to an event you have arranged or one in which you have been invited to participate. At these events, you have the opportunity to place your book on the table at the back of the room. If you wrote an eBook, your sales will be handled exclusively through the internet, perfect for involving your social media network because the internet is the location of the community and also the location where they purchase the eBook.
LET'S HOPE you have written a book that excites people, a book they will share with their network and so on and so on. That makes your book excerpts nearly as important as the book itself. So, pay attention to what you post because the excerpt will either cause your community to attend an event or make them want to read more of your book and make the purchase. Your social media network can help you sell book and get public speaking events if you provide them with as many places as possible to read about you. Press release publishing websites will publish and distribute well-written press releases and articles, which will get you free book publicity. Check them out and pick a couple of websites to start.
Press releases accomplish a number of goals, including free book publicity and getting your biography and data files into the hands of folks who can hire you to speak to their groups. How Authors Use Social Media Networking to Sell Books will help you learn more about using the internet to promote your books and career.
Online press release services are not all the same. Write an article and upload it. Be prepared to wait a few days while some services review your article. If it is accepted and published, check your search engine ranking after a couple of days and see if the website is working for you. If not, move on to another one. In some cases, it is not the website, it your writing that is not working for the search engines. Be aware that writing for internet distribution and search engine optimization is a different type of writing.
As you write more for internet distribution you will need to learn about headline writing for search engines, text optimization and keyword strategies. Involve your social media network in getting you book sales and public speaking engagements by providing the network a means of purchasing your book or eBook. This can be done through your website, blog, press releases or articles, all posted online for the convenience of your network. The challenge in selling online is having a method of receiving payments.
There are numerous methods available. Do research and find one that suits your needs. When you secure a public speaking engagement, you have the opportunity to hand out printed materials that include a biography, book ordering information and other pertinent files that your audience may access on the internet. Other files may include the site addresses of internet press releases about your and your book, online articles and reviews about your book, and postings and reviews you have contributed on others' writing blogs and websites.
SOCIAL MEDIA tactics such as those I have suggested will not work for you unless have an online presence. If you don't have an online presence, get one. Your social media network will expect someone who professes to be an author, expert and public speaker to have a viable online presence. Here are suggestions to help you get started.
- Post a Blog
- Develop a Website
- Write Internet Press Releases
- Distribute Online Articles
To acquire public speaking engagements, online press releases about your book should have appropriate contact information. Some services have contact information categories in which you can include as little or as much as you like, from email only to physical address. Be careful about the amount and nature of the information you post. What you place on the internet is likely to stay on the internet. Use caution in what you put out there, including specific fee quotes. Because of the delicate nature of pricing, talk about fees on a project by project basis in proposal estimates. However, a list of services with corresponding costs is acceptable as long as you include a disclaimer about price changes. You might want to mention whether or not you are willing to travel and what your requirement are.
For those in the audience that may wish to contact you later, when they need your services, provide them with an easy way to do that. As mentioned before, in the handout, include your contact information. And please do not forget about the trusted old-fashioned business card and don't rely on your audience to keep up with your business card. They have picked up several at your event that do not belong to you. Get their business cards, all of them so you can contact them for followup meetings, email addresses and social media relationships. In your online publicity and at public speaking events, be sure to offer helpful suggestions. Good suggestions will encourage your audience to accept your offers for social media relationships.
In your presentation, try to refer to your own book or your own work. If you are an author with your own book on the table at the back of the room, promote your book and your work in your speech and also in your handouts, prepared in advance. If your book has been honored, mention it in your online press releases and other publicity. Also in the audience handout include a statement about your writing honors or awards your book may have received to make yourself more attractive as a prospective public speaker and consulting contractor, friend and follower in social media networks.
At your speaking events, don't forget to read a passage or two from your book, regardless of its genre. In the reading, showcase your writing style to acquaint the audience with the book you are asking them to buy. Don't be too dry in your presentation, but try not to be overly dramatic. That can sound phony Be sincere. Sincerity counts in every word you write, every speech you make, everything comment you post, every book you sell, everything you do.
Sunny Nash is author of "Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's," recognized by the Association of American University Presses for understanding race relations in America; and listed in Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies by the New York Schomburg Center and the Florida's Miami-Dade Library System Native American collections. Her work is in African American National Biography by Harvard and Oxford; African American West, Reflections in Black, History of Black Photography; Ancestry; Companion to Southern Literature; Black Genesis: Resource Book for African-American Genealogy; African American Foodways; Southwestern American Literature; Source: a guidebook to American genealogy; Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies; Interdisciplinary Journal for Germanic Linguistics; Ebony; Southern Exposure; Hidden Sources and others. Nash won California writing fellowships in 2003 and 2010, won 2004 Charter Communications' TV award and nominated for a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. http://sunnynash.blogspot.com/p/bigmama-didnt-shop-at-woolworths.html
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 @ 08:00 PM
With all the talk of Facebook, Twitter, blogging and other social media, we often forget how we used to promote a book: locally. Many books that hit big success did so by building a regional buzz. But regional seems a lot less sexy these days and often gets overlooked. If media is being pursued, it’s often on a national level, bypassing individual markets altogether.
One of the things I’ve found about regional promotion is that it can often surprise you. When we worked on The Kennedy Detail last November, we had enormous success regionally, while major stations and national markets seemed to lag in interest for this exceptional title. In fact, I believe that part of the reason this book hit the bestseller list was because of the regional buzz.
If you’re wondering how regional coverage can affect your success, let me tell you another story. Some years back two women inLouisianawrote a Cajun cookbook. Now, if any of you have been toLouisianayou know that there are hundreds of Cajun cookbooks, nothing really unique there, right? But these women figured that out and decided instead of trying to do a national push, they would focus regionally. They were everywhere: airports, drycleaners, coffee shops, grocery stores and restaurants. The result? They built exceptional buzz for this book and ended up getting the attention of aNew Yorkpublisher who offered them a big deal to buy the book. Sometimes small can be big.
So, what would regional pitching look like for you? Well, my recommendation to any author is saturate your market. Make sure everyone in your city or town knows about you and what you’re doing. Additionally, you don’t need to just focus on your region, you could expand this out to other parts of the country as well. If the idea of pitching regionally has piqued your interest, here are some ways to make it work:
- Don’t repurpose national pitches: This is a big one. I don’t recommend that you use your national pitches for your local market. Local cares about local and even though every station will report on major national stories, it’s always best if they have a regional tie-in.
- Get to know your area: This is especially true if you’re pitching outside of your market. Get to know the nuances of the market you are going after. Know their hot buttons and then decide whether your story can tie into them. But regardless, you want to understand the market you are pitching.
- Local media varies: Local media will vary depending on the region you’re in. For some markets print has the biggest voice, for others it’s broadcast. By digging into your area and getting to know the region, important segments will start to become apparent. For example, in areas that have a lot of morning shows they will generally have a pretty balanced broadcast and print consumption. But other areas might surprise you. For example, I just moved fromSan Diego where, despite the size of the city, they only have one paper serving it: The San Diego Union Tribune. If you don’t make it into that paper, you’re not in great shape. Especially if your regional campaign is heavily driven to print. The flip side of this is that this city has a lot of great broadcast opportunities both in TV and radio, so your time might be better spent there.
- Tailor, tailor, tailor: Don’t forget that local matters so you’ll want to make sure and position your pitch on a local angle.
- Getting to know you: It’s easier than ever to get to know a market by reading, listening, or watching online. This will help you identify reporters, journalists, and radio hosts who might have a keen interest in what you are pitching.
- Event pitching: Regional media loves talking about events and other tie-ins. One of the best ways to get local media is by doing an event.
- Getting into Bookstores: If your goal is to get bookstores to place orders, a regional push can help there as well. If you’re doing events or media locally, this will help drive readers into the stores and the numbers start adding up, which could encourage bookstores to order more copies!
- Small is big: When we pitch regionally, we never overlook the small, local papers. Often they are the freebies you get in supermarkets. I have found that they are often very well-read in the community and can help to drive a lot of interest to your book or event. They are sometimes difficult to find though and don’t always show up in media databases. Having someone in the area is great to help identify these local publications. If you don’t have anyone locally, call the bookstore where you’re doing an event, and if there isn’t an event as part of this media push, call the local supermarket and ask them!
Getting focused regionally can be a great enhancement to any campaign. It’s also a great way to bring longevity to a marketing push. Regional markets aren’t always as hung up on book release dates as bigger, national markets are so the window is much wider here for pitching.
Good luck!
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Wed, Aug 17, 2011 @ 06:38 PM
By: D.L. Wilson
Book signings are very important avenues for new authors to gain readers and 
improve visibility in the market place. I’ve learned through a great deal of trial and error while promoting my first novel Unholy Grail what works and what to be cautious of in the fiction arena. I’m polishing the signing approach with my latest thriller Sirocco.
Time
When planning a signing it is important to determine the best day and time for each particular retail location. Check out the volume of customers by stopping by the store at various times. I’ve found that, in general, Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons are good times. Ask the community relations manager or store manager for their recommendations. Also be sure to arrive early so that you are prepared when the store sets up your signing table.
Promotion
Provide the store with materials to promote your signing. Posters highlighting your book and signing should be provided along with digital photo files of you and your book cover. Some of the larger book stores like Barnes & Noble can make posters through their corporate system to promote your signing using your digital files. Free book marks in presentation cases that mention the date and time of your signing could be provided to be displayed at the cash registers and information booths. Notify local newspapers about your signings in their areas for possible media attention.
Location
Ask the book store to place your signing in the front of the store near the entrance. That will allow you to be able to approach customers as they enter the store. That “first impression” is very important in attracting the attention of a potential buyer of your signed novel. As customers enter the store approach each one and offer them a book mark that promotes your novel. Most people coming to a book store will accept a free book mark even though they may not stop and look at your book. As they go through the store they will glance at your book mark and if the blurbs and synopsis are powerful, many will return to review your novel and hopefully purchase a signed copy.
Image
An image, like a picture, is worth a thousand words. Dress according to your audience and provide posters or banners on stands next to your signing table to draw customers to your book. Once someone picks up your book and reviews the contents, offer to answer any questions. Provide clear, concise information about the plot, characters, and research you may have done to write the book. Be sure your comments create a powerful incentive to buy a signed copy.
D.L. Wilson will be having a book signing at the Baltimore Inner Harbor Barnes and Noble on August 20th. For Information visit: www.dlwilsonbooks.com
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Mon, Jun 27, 2011 @ 06:10 PM
Author Name: Jay Thomas Willis
Book Title(s): Implications For Effective Psychotherapy With African-Americans; As Soon as the Weather Breaks; The Cotton is High; Born to be Destroyed; Paranoid but not Stupid; Why Black Americans Behave as They Do; Hard Luck; When the Village Idiot Get Started; Educated Misunderstanding; The Devil in Angelica.
Marketing Subject: Grass-Root’s Marketing Strategies
I have written a book entitled, “Notes on Practical-Grass-Root’s Marketing Strategies for Self-published Authors.” I wrote this book as a result of my contributions to the Infinity Publishing’s Author’s Marketing Blog. I began writing my notes in this blog on Monday, November 29, 2011, and ended on Tuesday, February 01, 2011. I contributed to the blog in hopes of getting some ideas for marketing my own books.
This book deals with a variety of approaches to marketing your self-published book. It includes issues from making the most of your cover design, to marketing by using Twitter as a social networking method. I have written 20+ books beginning in 1991. When I began writing I had no idea about how to market my books.
I received the marketing packages from Infinity, but didn’t take marketing seriously. Somehow I thought that something miraculous would happen to help me sell my books.
I have written 36 notes of approximately 600 words. The notes are by no means intended to be the last word. I wanted to stimulate the thinking of authors and introduce them to the realm of possibilities.
One of the main issues in choosing a marketing strategy is to pick what works best for you. Some approaches won’t work well for certain people. As I have written these notes in the blog it has made me realize what approaches were best for me. I have utilized many of these approaches, and find them quite helpful. My goal was to prevent others from experiencing the trials and tribulations I went through in attempting to promote my books.
I hope these notes will motivate others to get busy in promoting their book. Nothing will happen until you get busy promoting your own book. Years ago I was working on a project, and I kept delaying any major action on the project, until a friend finally said, “It’s your baby, and nobody is going to do it but you.” I always think about what my friend said as I begin to develop marketing strategies for my books. My book has been sent to the publisher for production. My other books can be previewed at {jaythomaswillis.com}.
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Tue, May 10, 2011 @ 06:30 PM
Author Name: Christopher J. Holcroft
Book title(s): Only The Brave Dare, Canyon, A Rite Of Passage and Finding Thomas
Marketing Subject: Launching your book publicly
The blood, sweat and tears of writing your book have finally give way to jubilation when you receive word Infinity Publishing will be sending you your published books shortly.
Hopefully when you completed your book and sent it to Infinity Publishing you then had a short breather before organising how you will launch your tome. Do not leave it until you have the book in your hands - be prepared for when the book arrives.
My fourth book, Finding Thomas was launched in Sydney, Australia on 5th May 2011. More than 50 people attended with some travelling around 100kms to the launch. It was a night of immense joy as a diverse audience of friends, family and community members attended.
The hard work in bringing Finding Thomas to life had been completed but I knew I had to prepare for its launch. I have access to Boy Scout, Girl Guide and church halls if required because of my ongoing association with all three organisations. However, I had to research what would be the best hall, with the better parking access and have the top facilities for food preparation and serving. I went with a church hall as the carpark could hold more than 60 cars and there was an access ramp for our senior people to use. The carpark is actually the local primary school's playground and had sail cloth shades across the top and was well lit.
I checked out the hall before I booked in for the launch to ensure it had the other things I needed like trestle tables; seats, a lectern, projector screen, kitchen with a couple of stoves and instant boiling water. Everything was there, except a lectern which I ended up borrowing from an Army Reserve Unit where I serve. I mainly use it as a prop with a large A3 poster of the book's cover attached to the front so when photos are taken of me the connection is instant. The lectern is also good to place your notes on and also a copy of your book and your electronic reading device like a kindle so you can refer to them and do any readings.
I rang my local church office and booked in the hall, a month before my launch date. This allowed me time to go to the community events section of my local paper and place a free advertisment in the 'What's On' section. I wrote my Media Release and started sending it out to to as many outlets as I could. Once the release was sent to my local newspaper I rang the Chief of Staff to ensure they had a copy of it and was then able to further explain the book's background. Within a short time a reporter rang me to make a time and place to meet the photographer and for me to tell my story. See http://www.theleader.com.au/news/local/news/general/book-shines-light-on-death/2151183.aspx for the results.
My preparation paid off because I thought of the launch like planning a wedding. Do the same and you will do well. Book where you will launch your book early and check out the facilities. Prepare your Media kit and speech in advance and rehearse what you are going to say. After sending your Media Releases to the Media, ring the Chief Of Staff and confirm they have it. Have a lucky door prize or two with the prizes being characters in your next book - this a nice freebie.
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Thu, Apr 21, 2011 @ 06:30 PM
Author’s Name: Joseph Schott
Book Title: A Spirit of Hope
Marketing Subject: Mind, Spirit, Near Death Experience (NDE), Out-of-Body Experience (OBE), Spiritual Logic/ Memory, Material Logic/ Memory, Science, afterlife, hope
Hello, my name is Joseph Schott. I have a mission to share my story with others. I hope this blog site will be a way to do that. My book is about a mystical experience that I had as a child. Being a mathematician and a scientifically oriented person, this never made much sense to me. I have explored this, and wish to help others have hope, faith, and encouragement by sharing my journey.
Before going into any of the details about my book, I feel I should give you some background information about myself: I was born in 1933 in a small town named Archbald in the anthracite coal region of Northeast Pennsylvania. My elementary schooling was in Archbald and South Canaan with High School in Waymart, Pa. After High School and while in the U.S. Air Force, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree majoring in mathematics with a minor in science at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. In the Air Force, my work consisted entirely of cruise missile control systems. As a civilian, my career included an engineering assignment on the Saturn V/ Apollo moon launch program at Cape Kennedy, Fl. After the successful completion of the moon mission, I worked for Siemen’s Corp as a senior engineer in charge of a Metrology/ Standards LAB. (Metrology is the science of measurement). After about 20 years with Siemen’s in a fast-moving, exciting career, I retired.
It is with this background that I was nudged into writing A Spirit of Hope.
So why should I say that I was “nudged” into writing a book? After reading about my background, it is very evident that my career was based very deep in the material world. Talking about spirits is a radical shift in the thought process; I really was apprehensive about even starting the project. But then, I had no choice in the matter. An inner conviction urged me on.
This story really begins with an appearance of an apparition of my paternal grandmother witnessed simultaneously by my mother and me. It was nighttime and the chandelier with one low-wattage bulb served as a night light, enabling us to easily see objects within the room. My grandmother appeared, looked around at my mother and me, left a message, and then left us by slowly rising through the ceiling of the room. My grandmother had died about one month earlier.
A Spirit of Hope is a nonfiction book with 4 parts: religion versus science/ a summary of spiritual encounters/spiritual entities/a viewpoint on material and spiritual reality.
After discussing the four parts in detail, we come to realize that everything that can be said about spiritual reality is inconclusive evidence or conjecture.
There must be a new way of looking at the spiritual domain. That is the challenge faced by humanity. With that in mind, we look at chapter 10 in the book-The Challenge Before Us- and note one of the priorities-Devising a valid test of OBE’s as a result of NDE’s. A valid test of OBE activity is important because it can eliminate the conjecture associated with the current inconclusive evidence surrounding OBE activity. If successfully implemented, A Near Death Out-of-Body Research Project described in chapter 10 can eliminate the conjecture associated with OBE activity.
Please feel free to email me with your questions and thoughts. You may also purchase a copy of my book at: Joeschot AT verizon DOT net or you may link to Infinity’s Publishing site at: www.buybooksontheweb.com and click on side bar Body, Mind, Spirit, scrolling to book #5.
Many Blessings,
Joseph
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Mon, Feb 14, 2011 @ 06:00 PM
Author Name: Cynthia W. Post
Book title(s): Meet Carrie Flower, Carrie Flower Goes To Camp, Carrie Flower Goes To The Hospital, Carrie Flower's Book For Brighter Days
Marketing Subject: Appreciation
What does Valentines Day mean to you?
The focus Hallmark has made is definitely to tell that someone special that you love them. 
I like to to broaden that prespective and tell the people that have influenced and help me that they are special.
Today I am extending big thank you to Infinity Publishing for helping me reach my goal and publish my books.
Happy Valentines Day Infinity Publishing!
Happy Valentines Day to all my fellow authors.
Posted by Infnity Author Marketing BLOG on Thu, Feb 10, 2011 @ 06:00 PM
Author Name: Cynthia W. Post
Book title(s): Meet Carrie Flower, Carrie Flower Goes To Camp, Carrie Flower Goes To The Hospital, Carrie Flower's Book For Brighter Days
Marketing Subject: Focus on your work
I recently went to see the movie "127 Hours" with my daughter.
The movie is based on Aron Ralston's memoir "Between a Rock and a hard place". While he is in Utah climbing alone, he experiences a terrible accident and gets trapped in a isolated canyon. While falling his arm gets wedged between the wall of the canyon and a boulder. He is stuck! The only way out is to cut off his arm and, needless to say, it takes him some time to amputate the arm, once he decides to do it.
In that same light I was reminded about a woman who, after years of her husband's lies and cheating, had her sons came to her and offer to pay to get him out of the house.
Her response to the boys was "You don't like your father and me together?" She was stuck in that life.
When we aren't willing to deal with life and change we stop the creative juices we were gifted with. Our focus, our priority, shifts and it becomes all about that painful situation.
It is my feeling that we are suppose to change - we shed dead skin cells, we grow new hair and nails, animals shed their hair, cold water creatures shed their skin, birds change their environment from summer to winter.
Most of us don't have to use such extreme measures that we have to cut off our arm, but we create it to be that serious in our heads.
I am pretty sure that if you inquire about your family history, you will find someone who stayed in a marriage with infidelity, alcoholism, gambling, etc.
The point is that we use it as an excuse not to achieve.
What is the boulder in your life that keeps you stuck?
Who are the people in your life? Are they achieving their goals or are they riding on you?
Your books are your words and your expression, no matter what you are writing about.
Don't let the obvious boulder or dysfunctional person stop you from moving forward with your dream - Be on the best sellers list!