You've Got One, Is It the Best it Can Be?

As an author in 2010 (almost 2011) you have a website. One of the components on that website is an "About" page which is your Bio. If you have a book out already, you also have some sort of short bio on the back cover or somewhere inside. On Facebook and Twitter or Linked in? Bios again, though shorter.

You've got one, so is it the best it can be? Meaning, does it hold the readers interest, does it make them chuckle, or go "ah-ha, that explains a lot" ? Or is it the old cookie cutter experience, expertise & awards-you know the kind. If so, unfortunately, your BIO = BORING.

If that's you, don't worry, many, if not most of us have written one like that. Often it's because that's the example we had. Those kinds of Bios do get the information across basically, but they can certainly be better. Luckily, it's not to hard to learn how to fix them.

Recently, I had the pleasure of reviewing marketing expert Nancy Juetten's newest guide Bye Bye Boring Bio. Not only does she go through the various kinds of Bios (in case you forgot one), she gives lots of before & after examples and other tips to get you on the right track. It's easy to follow and as a writer, you should be able to harness your creativity and kick things up a notch without much difficulty by following this information. If you're still stuck though after reading it, she also offers a Bio makeover writing service as well.

I've read some advice over the past few years about how to make a bio better than average, but in this book I found there's still plenty I can do so I've added upgrading to my plans for 2011.

If this sounds like something you can use (and you most likely can), I'd highly recommend putting Bye Bye Boring Bio on your Christmas list or maybe giving yourself an early treat.


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Why Would They?

The question above can be finished in a myriad of ways. First, you need to know "they" are your readers/potential readers. Now let's consider what "they" might do:

1. Why would they buy your book?

2. Why would they recommend your book?

3. Why would they consider giving your book to someone else as a gift?

Notice the perspective with these questions- it's not why should they...? As authors with a message or point to make, sometimes we (and I include myself) totally see things as why people should buy etc. They should buy because it's a great book, or they should recommend it because "everybody" needs to read my advice. We've all been there in one form or another.

Don't get me wrong, you need to have confidence in your message and the drive to promote it. The issue is the "should" answers are often our reasons, and "they" may or may not think or feel the same way. So the key is to answer the questions above and then tell people how easy it is for them to buy, recommend and give, rather than trying to convince them that they should do so. Better still sometimes, write with the answers to those questions in mind to begin with.

Got the idea? How about sharing your answers or attempt at answers to today's questions. It doesn't have to be perfect, instead let's focus on learning and helping each other get from should to would.

Lastly, I wish you all a safe & most blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Do You Own Your Name?

This might sound like an odd question, but in the world of the Internet, it's not. If you are in business, or if you're an author, your name is out there, not just the name of your company or book. That means it is in your best interest to own it everywhere possible.

By now, most people know about the popularity of Facebook and usually accounts are in their name or, if female, name plus maiden name is common too. If you've done that, great!

But what about the others? Do you own your name on Twitter? Maybe. How about YouTube? That's right YouTube. I hadn't really thought about YouTube until one of my mentors mentioned it's definitely a place where you want to own your name if you can. So now I do. I will likely promote via YouTube in the future, now I can do it using my own name in the link if I choose to. The next one I need to check is LinkedIn, but I'm pretty sure I've seen another Cheryl Pickett come up in searches linked to that site.

Now some of you might be saying, 'but I don't ever intend to use some of those sites'. That's fine, not everything is right for everybody. If you're building an online presence though, you can help keep continuity by owning your name and not letting someone else build a reputation people might confuse for yours (whether it's good or bad).

If you have a really unusual name, you might not have to worry much about others taking your spot, and if you have a super common name, you're probably out of luck already, but somewhere in between, you might want to do some investigation. If all you do is open an account with the big three (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter), at least you have it for the future, even if you aren't ready to jump in this minute.

So now it's your turn to share- where do you own your name? Did you miss out anywhere with the basic first/last, how did you handle it?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

New Garden Makes Books Come Alive

What do you get when you combine a love of books and gardens? Keep reading & find out!

My friend Barb Techel (who I'm also so proud to say is a client of mine too) finds some of the most interesting places to hook up with to promote and sell her books. I imagine some of them find her too, but either way, she is definitely one to watch to get the creative juices going if yours have dried up.

Her latest adventure involves teaming up with an absolutely beautiful and cool place called Bookworm Gardens located in Sheboygan Wisconsin. It's called a literary garden and it brings to life several classic tales like Charlotte's Web and The Magic Treehouse. Barb's book Frankie the Walk 'n Roll Dog will soon be featured as well. However, it's more than just another attraction for families to visit and look at nice displays and flowers. It provides a place for imaginations of all ages to run free among the trees, flowers, words and rhymes. With so many stories being written about how kids/people are reading less I absolutely applaud this effort to make a difference and to make sure the future is full of book lovers. I hope my imagination and I get to visit soon.

Find out more about Barb and the Gardens at her site/blog Joyful Paws.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Follow Along or Even Participate in a Book Tour

One thing that's cool about the writing/author/publishing world is that it's often possible to go behind the scenes. You can't do that in just any industry. Try going to Pepsi, NIKE, or Ford and asking them how they do their research to come up with new ideas or if they can give you marketing advice. Most likely isn't going to happen, but author to author, a lot of times it can and does. I came across one such circumstance this week that I found particularly intriguing.

Author Chris Guillebeau recently launched his book The Art of Non-Conformity along with his Unconventional Book Tour. In a nutshell, he is, on his own, planning to go to all 50 states along with the 10 provinces of Canada between now and early January 2011. It's unconventional in that it's organized, but not in the traditional style that most big publishers have used for decades where big bookstores, big media are the targets and it costs quite a bit to do. He's partially planning as he goes and is willing to visit whatever location will have him whether bookstore, gift store, yoga studio or home. Besides selling and promoting the book, the thing is he wants most is to meet his readers whether they read the book, his blog or both.

Sounds like a plan to me and a pretty good one at that. I'll be following along though I don't know if I'll make it to his MI event. If you'd like to as well, click here to find out about the Unconventional Book Tour. If you get to meet I hope you'll pop back over here and share your experience/what you learned as a fellow author.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Are You Providing a Path?

A question for you today-once someone has a copy of your book, can they find you if they want to?

For example, you have a website (you do right?), and you want people to go there maybe for more information about you or other products you have. If they have a book in hand, is it easy for them to find your URL? Hint-Many people flip to the back cover to find it.

Here's another scenario: maybe they haven't thought about looking for you even though they like what they've read so far. This time you need to entice them a bit, you want them to go to your site because you have lots more to offer. If they're not looking, how do you get them there? One way is to include a page, likely in the back, that flat out asks them to visit! You'll also give them a few good reasons to do so. Maybe they'll find updates on your blog, where you'll be speaking or what other products you have that they'll enjoy too.

Don't rely on the "because it's there, they will come theory". That doesn't work very often. Instead, give them the trail of bread crumbs to follow, provide a clear path to your front door. Making it easy for your audience to do business with you is a win-win all around.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Survey Says

Whether you are in the planning/writing stage of your book or marketing your little heart out, surveys can be a very helpful tool.

If you're planning or writing, finding exactly what you audience is looking for (mainly for non-fiction) allows you to make the book more attractive and salable. If you want to create your own survey, Survey Monkey.com is a popular choice. If you blog here on Blogger.com there's an add on that allows you to put a survey right on your blog and it's pretty easy to use.

Another way to use surveys is to look at those you hear about or read online through the lens of how it might help you with book marketing. For example, a survey was done called "How religious is your state?" The results rank the states in various categories pertaining to faith as well as an overall ranking. If you have a Christian book (like I do) knowing which areas may be most receptive to is a useful tool if you want to do mailings or schedule visits etc.

Are you aware of other surveys that could be helpful to other authors? Please share!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

I just came across this excellent post by Chris Brogan which provides a nice list of how to use sites social media like Facebook or a blog if you have something to promote. Just having a presence and sharing bits and pieces from your day is far from the whole story.

The big take away point is that selling today is mostly about connecting with people. I'm sure you, like your customers, are weary of being bombarded by advertising. It's always been around of course, but with as technology gave us more options, it also gave us the ability to get messages and information, good, bad, useful, useless 24/7/365. We're overwhelmed more often than not. That's why we rarely listen, or give up our valuable attention anymore -unless we connect. That's why "social" media is named the way it is. It's about people connecting to people, sharing what they have to offer and hopefully enriching each other's lives.

How have you used sites like Facebook or Twitter or a blog to connect with your readers and potential readers? Let us know your success stories (however it is you define success).

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Pitch a Pair

When I saw this article at the Shelftalker Blog I was immediately impressed by the simple, yet creative book marketing idea it portrays. In a nutshell, an author who wrote a book about salamanders and she let a bookstore know about it. It was such a great fit for the area (that has a lot of salamanders) the bookstore decided to host not only the author, but a naturalist who could bring live salamanders to the event as well. They did a presentation together, a total win win all around for the author, the kids, the nature center and the bookstore.

Whether you are trying to entice a group or venue to host you as an author, think bigger, think beyond one book one author. This author was blessed to have the bookstore so excited that they did the legwork to expand the event themselves, but it won't always be that easy for everyone. It will be more likely that you'll need to at least have tentative ideas (make sure they'll fly if you pitch them) so that the host understands you're trying to eliminate as much hassle as possible.

Have you ever successfully paired up with someone else or pitched a full event around your book? Hope you'll share and inspire the rest of us.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Which Would You Choose and Why?

Here's an interesting question (at least I think so):
As a shopper, if you had to choose, which kind of place would you rather visit and shop for books and why?

This one, (Choice A) that is totally unique and a potential destination all by itself even though it carries fewer books, or (Choice B) a B&N/Borders type store with its familiar layout and wider selection?

Now as an author, consider the same thing for where you'd want your books to be sold. Which would you choose and why?

Lastly, if you'd like to take a stab at predicting the future-which do you think there will be more of in 5 or 10 years?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Is Anyone Buying Books? Anyone? Anyone...?

I read about this survey in Dan Poynter's newsletter this week. What's great about it is it casts aside the notion that no one is buying books anymore. Most of us are buying less these days so to see a decline would be natural, but the chicken little approach to publishing (no one's buying, no one's buying) is likely an overboard reaction.

This kind of information is vital whether you're publishing independently or pitching traditional houses. As you read it, think about the audience you're trying to reach. The survey breaks things down nicely by gender and age. Consider their spending habits and how you think you can reach them best. And just as a reminder, your audience is not everyone. No such book (other than the Bible). If you haven't narrowed down your audience yet, the survey will be a useful tool. Start with a broad category and dissect from there. As a quick example, maybe you'll start with women ages 35-50 and from there go to Christian women of that age with children who also work outside the home.

Who are you trying to reach? Let us know, let's see how our results match with who's buying.

*Note you may have to scroll through the slides yourself with the numbers under the screen, not sure why it's not running in presentation mode.


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Outside the Zone

For many things in life we have comfort zones. We have tasks we're comfortable doing, or a group of dinner time recipes that get repeated, or a certain group of people we tend to talk to at work gatherings. I'm sure you can think of others. And though you might not be aware of it at first, most of us have comfort zones when it comes to marketing too if we've been at it for a little while.

Sometimes that zone is created by what we like to do. Maybe speaking is our thing or social networking or school visits or selling via a particular kind of store. Whatever "it" is we do a lot of it because it becomes familiar and we feel like we're "in the zone" when we are engaged in it.

While this strategy is often logical and practical, there are times when life simply forces us out of "the zone". Sometimes things run their course as there are only so many schools or rotary clubs to speak to within a reasonable travel distance. Stores close or change buying habits. Sometimes our familiar pattern gets upset by illness or a move we weren't planning on.

Then what? As nerve-wracking, semi-scary as it might be, it's time to find or build new comfort zones. After all, your old ones started somewhere and they likely weren't instantly comfortable either, right?

How do you do that? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Consider the kind of marketing you've been doing all along. Can it be adapted with just a few minor adjustments to your new situation rather than a complete overhaul?

2. If you've been marketing based on one particular angle, take a fresh look at all topics or themes within your book and brainstorm who might be interested. You could open up an entirely new audience.

3. Inform your current contacts as to your new situation and see what ideas they might have to enable you to continue your relationship whether you now need to communicate less frequently or long distance.

4. Stay connected. Who knows who you'll find through your new circumstances that you would not have met otherwise.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What's in A Name?

If you're considering writing a book, whether it's your first or next, in today's world one of the first things you need to do really has little to do with the actual writing. If you plan to sell what you write, one thing at the top of your to do list has to be finding and buying an appropriate domain name. Even if you don't plan to have a separate site for the book, it's imperative that you own the domain that includes your title or as close as you can get.

Why? If you hear about a book, or just about anything else for that matter, and you want to find out more, what do you do? You Google it most likely. You don't check the newspaper, or encyclopedia or hardly the phone book probably. If something else comes up when someone searches for your intended title, try again. Change the title if you have too, it really is that important.

Have you had to change a title in order to get a domain name? Did you get luck and find what you wanted was available the first time you searched? Love to hear your stories (an easy way to plug your title BTW :-)

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

You Get to Choose

If you're around my age, you may remember the book series called "Choose Your Own Adventure". Apparently, there's a series out now too so you might also be familiar with that one.They were fun to read because, unlike any other book, these allowed you to take part in creating the story to an extent. Everyone started out in the same place, but then as you read you were given options. Turn to page 20 and X would happen, turn to 14 and it would be something different. That kept happening until you eventually wound up at an ending. More time to read? You could try an entirely different combination. It was and still is a great concept I think.

Now jump forward to 2010 and add in the creative mind of Jon Acuff of the very popular blog "Stuff Christians Like" and in today's post you'll find his version of choose your own adventure-blog style. Seriously. What he's done is decide to have a little fun with the Christian romance novel genre and he's started posting bits and pieces on the bottoms of past blog posts. Follow along and you get a mini-story in 4 or 5 clicks or so (at least in the combination I did). If you can't wait to read click here (but please come back :-)

I think the whole idea is a bit of genius. Not only has he given his regular readers something new and interesting to do (and to share) using the previous posts may get new visitors to read well beyond the adventure part. Beyond what it does for him, think about the possibilities for you, your book, your blog, linking up to other people's blogs, trying out a story line, hooking readers for an upcoming book. Lots of possibilities here. Any ideas strike you right away? Would love to hear them as always. If you didn't click above here's the link again. Enjoy!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Shape Up Your Shipping Budget

Whether you publish independently or order books from your publisher, shipping costs will be a part of your budget. Until my most recent order, I never really looked that hard at my other options, I just logically chose to ship to my home office. I also wanted the least expensive option which, unfortunately, was non-trackable.

With my most recent order though, I looked more closely at another option-commercial ground. I discovered it was significantly cheaper than residential ground, and similar to the cheapest option in cost. But how to take advantage of that?

Then the though hit me-plenty of businesses, publishers or not, ship to warehouses, central locations etc. so why couldn't I do something like that? After just a bit more consideration, I realized my husband and I have a friend who owns an insurance office that's in an area where we both go on a regular basis for errands etc.Voila! Commercial location, commercial ground shipping prices. I simply asked permission to use his address and he was more than happy to let me send books to his location.

Of course, at this point I've only gotten a box or two of books per month so it won't effect his daily business. If I was getting some crazy amount of boxes that would pile up, that wouldn't be fair to him and I'd need another solution. In thinking about that as well, if I do get to the point where I need a few hundred books at a time, I have a possible solution for that as well. A cousin owns a tool & die shop and told me in the past that I'd be welcome to use storage space if he has it available (unfortunately since he does mostly auto work, he has plenty of space right now). Even if these options fell through, there are so many people with business connections, I'm sure I could make something work along the same line.

As most of you know, publishers and authors don't have much profit margin on most books. Even if tweaking your shipping options only saves twenty or fifty cents per book, it all adds up and can help the bottom line.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Cool Way to Get Some Attention for Books & Reading

If nothing else, it's a fun example of art and technology worth watching

An Experiment in Book Marketing Worth Following

Seth Godin is known world-wide for his business sense. He doesn't always follow the rules and in fact, he often makes up his own and other people follow him. If you like comfort and "but we've never done it that way before" thinking, you probably won't like him.

However, if you prefer out of the box, creative, what can we do that's different, by all means check him out. His latest adventure involves marketing another new book. One of the "out of the box" plans is that he will NOT be sending review copies to, as he puts it, the few newspapers and magazines that are left or other normal "industry" outlets. He's going straight to the people who will be interested in the topic and who are willing to spread the word. He even involves charity giving which makes it even cooler in my book.

Want to follow along with me? Find all the info on his website Seth Godin.com

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Selling Books at Craft Fairs

Over the last few weeks, I tried my hand at selling my new book at a few local craft/holiday shows. Here are some of the high and low points of my endeavors:

High Points
1. My target audience is Christian families with kids ages 5-10 or so, so selling at shows hosted by churches with elementary schools seemed like a logical way to go. Overall, reaction has been very positive and encouraging and sales decent in my opinion for the time frame.

2. One show had door prizes and all vendors were to donate an item. This seemed to generate interest/anticipation because some people put their tickets in before walking the show and then were excited to see and meet me when they got to my table. At least a couple bought the book so they'd have one win or lose.

3. A librarian bought a copy at the most recent show which of course increases the book's exposure way beyond that day. Nice bonus!

Low Points
1. Attendance at the first show was dismal, the second pretty good, the third not dismal, but not great. You never know, that part's never within your control so you have to be prepared to lose money. Not expecting it, but prepared because it does happen.

2.Though most people are prepared with cash, some paid by check and I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. Got my first returned check in the mail today. We'll see if she returns my phone call. (TIP make sure to try to get a phone number if it's not printed on the check).

The last note I have for you isn't really a high or low point, it's just a fact: To have any kind of success at this type of outlet, you must be prepared to hustle (and I don't mean that fun dance you do at weddings :-D).

I'd say 50-75% of my sales have been due to interaction and directly engaging the customer. For example, if they slowed down they were greeted with "Good morning". If they stopped to look or even came close to stopping, I pointed out I was the author. From there, I explained who the book was for and tried to guide the conversation to a sale. Of course, not everyone who engaged bought, but many did who might otherwise not have thought about that person on their list, or who might not have taken the extra time to find out more beyond the cover.

If that type of selling is not your style, you aren't out of the game yet. Find someone who will go with you to do most of the talking. My husband was with me at one show and he's generally even more outspoken than I am so between the two of us, things went pretty well. If you don't have someone to bring along, craft shows might not be for you. At all three shows I saw plenty of vendors leave pretty empty handed because they simply sat there (sometimes reading books etc.) waiting for the customer to make the first move-but they didn't.

Bottom line, if you're up for meeting, greeting and personally sharing your passion for your books and your book fits the right audience (women buying for themselves or family members), I say craft/vendor shows are worth at least a try or two.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

A Creative Way to Present Poetry

There's no question that poetry is one of the hardest types of writing to sell and few publishers are willing to take it on. But there are still poets among us; writers who have things on their hearts they need to get out, that they simply want to share. So what to do?

Get creative.

All authors need to do this to sell and promote effectively, but poets even more so probably because their audience is harder to pinpoint. Another challenge in marketing is that poetry is often misunderstood and tough for many readers to appreciate.

Two creative ideas crossed my desk in the last couple of weeks.

The first comes from a publisher and involves an intriguing idea of selling poetry via audio. There's a new website coming too. Read about it at Book Business Magazine


You may have read about the second one because the authors have promoted it for a couple of different holidays this year. Here's the current info:

Award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball have developed a new concept for inexpensive holiday gifts--an idea for poetic greetings apart from greeting cards.

They suggest a real chapbook of poetry and have released the first two in a series in time for the holidays. So far the series includes Cherished Pulse (for anyone you love) with artwork from California artist Vicki Thomas and She Wore Emerald Then (for mothers on your gift list) with photographs by May Lattanzio. New booklets are coming for Father's Day and for Christmas 2010.

The small books, a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times, are priced to compete with greeting cards. The poets' idea is that, in general, cards from the rack seldom say what we'd like and that a small book of poetry would be more thoughtful.

Both Cherished Pulse and She Wore Emerald Then may be ordered from Amazon

Do you write poetry? How have you promoted it?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Book Marketing Opportunity for Fiction Authors

I wanted to share the announcement below with you for two reasons. First, it looks like a good idea and I know my friend Carolyn wouldn't be involved in anything she didn't truly believe in. Second, it's a good example of authors supporting other authors. Carolyn shares success stories in her newsletter and I'm on her email media release list so that I can share her news when it fits my readers.

For the most part authors and writers help each other generously. If you aren't tweeting, making notes on Facebook, blogging etc. about other writers events or accomplishments, you're missing some wonderful opportunities just to be a part of a community and to feel good about helping others.
I encourage you to try it, pretty sure you'll be hooked in no time. If you're already doing so, how do you support other authors? Would love to hear your ideas.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

ANNOUNCEMENT
Lillian Cauldwell and Carolyn Howard-Johnson invite authors to participate in a frugal and fabulous reading and cross-promotion adventure

Starting March, 2010.
Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio will feature authors of published books of fiction to join in the first-ever serial weekly literary festival where authors read brief excerpts from their books over PIVTR’s radio network. (Nonfiction and Poetry Weeks will come later in 2010.)

Authors may book a reading on what may be a first-of-its-kind event:
It is only $10 for 10 minutes. Authors may contact lillian.cauldwell@gmail.com before January 15, 2010.
The special will air March 21 thru March 28, 10 to 11 p.m. (New York time) except Wednesday evening when the show starts 10:30 and ends at 11:30 p.m.

Text Lillian at 734-277-2733 Or E-mail: LSaraCauldwell@gmail.com for details!

The planned program also includes:

Authors book reviews will be posted on Carolyn's The New Book Review blog: http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com. That blog was recently named to Online Universities 101 Best Blogs for Readers list.

A special authors' page will be created on Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio (www.pivtr.com) Web page.

Lillian will make MP3 streams (html codes) of participating authors' presentations available for $3 each plus shipping. Proceeds from the MP3 streams will go to Mission Socorro and Capuchin Soup Kitchen to help the homeless, migrant workers and recently released prisoners get back on their feet.


Passionate Voices Radio is based on three principles: to market and promote published mid-list and unknown authors to the media; to provide a conduit for voices not otherwise heard in this noisy world; and to provide quality educational and informative content to listeners so they can use it immediately in their spiritual, personal and business lives.


Lillian Cauldwell is an author of one award-winning nonfiction book, "Teenagers! A Bewildered Parent's Guide." She writes multi-cultural paranormal mysteries for mid teens (9 to 14 years) and mentors junior and senior high school students to write their first books. http://lilliancauldwell.com and http://internetvoicesradio.com.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an award-winning novelist and poet. She is also the author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

The pair plans future reading festivals for poets and writers of nonfiction