According to Flurry, a research company, there were 3 million active smartphone e-book application users in July.  According to Flurry’s report, “e-books” represent the second-largest application category in the App Store, behind “games,” with a 14% share.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, (Aug. 26, 2009) A Grant Thornton LLP retail study has predicted that 400 U.S. Bookstores will close this year, a 500% increase over 2008.

When people visit your website, what do they see? How do they feel?

When people visit my website, I want them to get excited about my topic and want to know and learn more, that way they will purchase some of my products in order to do that.

How do you keep them coming back?  If you visit my author website you will see that I put my photo on there, so people can see who they are dealing with.  I try to grab their attention with this headline:

Is your business suffering because of the failing economy or the credit crisis? My books and tools will help you survive these tough economic times and help you make more money while being successful.

I ask about something that is affecting everyone right now, then I tell them how I can help them and what the results will be.

Some of the top free ways to promote your book are:

Many authors tell me they have had terrible luck with book signings. I think that is the fault of the author. It is up to you to make your signing successful. Do not rely on the bookstore to make your signing a success. That is like expecting your publisher to make book sales for you. There are some things you can do to make your signing a success.

Before your book signing, send out hand written invitations to everyone on your mailing list, your local contacts and networking group. Treat it as a very special party, if your book signing is at your home, have wine and cheese or fruit. Use candles and make it festive, give everyone a door prize, this could be candy or a candle and a chapter excerpt from your book. Make sure the press knows about your book signing. Call and specifically ask them to come and take pictures that they can then use for the story they write to cover your signing. Talk about your book signing to everyone you see and ask if they are coming, keep invitations in your pocket or purse and hand them out to anyone who has not heard about it. Make it the event not to be missed!

Many authors I talk to shy away from teaching and speaking. The first couple of years I attended the Book Expo I forgot how shy some authors can be. Some of the authors had booths at the expo and were sitting behind the table reading. Not looking up when I walked by and basically being very shy. Do not do this! You will be more successful if you are outgoing, smile and stand up and shake people’s hands. Because most authors are shy and quiet, you can make yourself more successful and stand out more just by being outgoing and friendly. Start small; give a talk to your local chamber, or a group of friends. Tape yourself and watch the video tape to see how you can improve. Do you wave your hands around to much, do you need to walk around more, and are you smiling?
Learn how you can improve your speaking skills and keep practicing. Start going out to eat or for coffee and just smiling at everyone you see, say hello to them, be friendly and outgoing, it will become a habit that will carry over into your teaching and speaking. Attend some free classes or seminars and study the instructors, what do they do that you don’t like, what do they do that works well?

What is a platform? A platform is something that can take years to build up, it is your customer base or fan club. It is the relationships and mailing lists you have created by networking and marketing before and while you were writing your book. If you don’t have a platform, many publishers will not take a chance with you.

Most people write about things they know or love. If this is the case for you, you may already have a platform started. For example, I worked in accounts receivable for a few years and then became a credit manager. I worked at a few companies as a credit manager and eventually started a collection agency from home. I worked as a bill collector for 17 years. I wrote books about starting a collection agency and other credit management manuals. When I started my own business in that industry there were not a lot of resources available so I created a website with all the information I was finding out and posting it online so it would be available if anyone else needed it. That was my Credit & Collections Association which has now been around for 10 years and has over 1000 members. I never even thought about it as a platform, but that is exactly what it is. You can do the same in any genre. You can do it much more quickly by starting locally and going out and meeting people in person, giving talks, handing out business cards and getting to know people.

Publicity is attention, promotion, notice, hype or spotlight. Something every author wants and needs to be successful. If you have a lot of money you can hire a publicist to get you publicity, you can place advertisements everywhere and probably do a pretty good job of getting your name out there. If you don’t have any money you will need to do this yourself. Getting publicity is a hard job; it takes a lot of time and can be very discouraging. It can also be very rewarding. I like marketing myself because I can see the results of my work, if I am marketing myself using the tools and techniques I am sharing with you in this book, I start seeing results in the form of being in the newspaper, being asked to write articles or requests for interviews. If that is happening, you are on the right track and you didn’t have to pay a publicist. When you pay someone to do this work for you they normally already have media and press contacts and can get you publicity much more quickly than you will be able to do for yourself. The thing to remember when you tackle this yourself is that you know your book better than anybody. You have the passion and can explain your book like nobody’s business. That is a big plus when trying to get publicity for your book, something a publicist doesn’t have working in their favor.

You will want to send releases that announce what you are doing, if you win an award, if you speak at an event, if you publish a book, appear on the radio etc. You must also show your media list that you can write, and offer relevant helpful information. Another good idea is to use a quote in your press release. If you only send releases announcing your accomplishments you will get much less press.

Another way to get more bang for your buck is to use the press releases that are not an announcement of your accomplishments as articles and submit those online and post them on your website.

It is no longer enough to write a great book, authors are expected to play an active role in book marketing and promotion. Many authors feel overwhelmed when they realize or are asked to take a strong role in marketing their book. Many authors have never been involved with a marketing plan so are unsure of what they must do. Once you decide you want to work for yourself, and sell your books, reports or articles, marketing is something you will spend the rest of your life or the life of your book doing. No matter what it is you want to sell, your services, yourself, your articles or books, it is never to soon to get started marketing. One very important point I have to make right away is that if you are an author and your book is published, no matter who publishes your book it is up to you to write and carry out a marketing plan unless you hire someone to do that for you, which is expensive. Do not rely on your publisher to do your marketing.

Remember, you are your books’ biggest fan. There isn’t anyone other than you with the knowledge you have, who can explain or talk about your book with your pride, enthusiasm, background and explanations. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are excited about your book, it shows and it infects the people around you. Resulting in more people remembering who you are, talking about you to someone else or buying your book.