Posted by admin on Jul 14, 2009 in
Marketing,
News,
books This week many from the Christian publishing industry are gathered in Denver, Colorado for the International Christian Retail Show. The convention includes great networking opportunities and educational opportunities through seminars. A recent seminar looked at Christian fiction sales which have exploded over the last three decades.
Christian fiction was born as a genre in 1979 with Janette Oke’s book Love Comes Softly. From 1980 to 2000 fiction sales quadrupled to $4 billion in Christian bookstores. Pretty soon mainstream retailers like Wal-mart and Barnes and Noble realized they needed to start carrying Christian fiction. So who’s buying all of these Christian fiction books?
* 72% of Christian fiction is purchased by women
* 41% of those buying Christian fiction make less than 35,000 a year
* Active Christians purchase 53% of the titles
While the Christian fiction marketplace is booming it still only makes up 5% of the overall fiction market. And while online sales are growing, in-store buying is still the preferred method with 61% buying in stores and 27% buying online. Personal recommendations are a big factor when buyers are deciding which books to buy Seventeen percent of people buy books based on online sources including book reviews, online advertisements, email from the retailer or based on the author’s website.
Tags: book marketing, Christian books, Christian Fiction, ICRS, sales, selling books
Posted by admin on Apr 21, 2009 in
Authors,
Marketing,
Resources Christian author Adam Blumer recently held a book launch. It wasn’t at a local coffee shop or bookstore– it was on Facebook. According to his blog, nearly 150 people turned out and here’s what Adam wrote about the event:
Here’s a big thank you to many who attended my online book release party yesterday! I was pleasantly surprised when 147 of you participated and entered the book drawing. You wrote such kind words of encouragement. Thank you! Sorry we ran out of salsa, and my assistant who was supposed to buy more cake ran off with it.
It sounds like Adam and his Facebook visitors had a great time celebrating the release of Meaningful Suspense. So here’s how you can create a book launch party on Facebook:
1. Create a Facebook Page. As long as you already have a Facebook account, you can create a fan page. Put your name or your book’s name in the title so people can easily search for it. Here are some guidelines to follow when setting up a Facebook Fan Page.
2. Pick a Time. You can either set up your book launch like Adam did with a specific date, or you can make it more general. Either way, encourage your fans to visit your page often to stay up-to-date about book signings and events.
3. Promote your Fan Page. Send messages to your Facebook friends and encourage them to become your fan. Ask them to recruit more fans for you. You can also use paid advertising to get the word out about your event.
4. Put a Badge on Your Blog. Facebook makes promoting your fan page easy by creating badges. This will let visitors to your blog know about your Facebook page. You can learn how to create a badge for your Page from the ‘Promotion Guidelines’ link. This can be found under the communications section when you are editing your Page.
5. Host a Giveaway. Encourage visitors to stop by your Facebook Page by holding a giveaway like Adam did. Promote the giveaway on your blog as well.
6. Communicate with Your Fans. As long as you don’t go over 5000 fans, you can easily communicate with the entire group and keep the up-to-date about events and happenings surrounding your book. The update will appear in their Facebook inbox.
Are you planning a Facebook book launch party? Or have you held one in the past? Tell us about it!
Tags: Authors, book launch, book marketing, book promotion, Christian books, Christian writer, Facebook, Marketing, sales, selling books, social media
Posted by admin on Apr 16, 2009 in
Authors,
Marketing,
books If you’re a first-time author, self-published author or just starting out, you may not have the budget for a website. But it’s easy to see that a website is a very important part of marketing your book and connecting with readers. Thankfully there are several options for free websites for authors. They probably won’t have the professional design and expanded capabilities that a professional web designer could create for you, but it’s a good start!
AuthorTree.com
Your just a few minutes away from a website with AuthorTree.com. The website is very basic and any upgrades require money, but if you need something fast– this could be a good option.
Webs.com
Webs.com offers free websites with lots of features. They provide all the tools necessary for creating a professional site and you don’t have to know any code to make it happen. You can even add a blog, forum, and photo gallery. Webs also gives you the option to create a social network on your site where you can add members and allow them to create personal profiles.
WritersOwnWords.com
WritersOwnWords.com is a site that offers free web pages for authors. Your site can include a blog, image galleries, events section, about the author page and more. Plus, you can update your site as often as you like.
Weebly.com
If you’re looking for a a clean looking site with a blog check out Weebly.com. Wondering just how easy it is? Try the live demo and you can quickly create a sample site.
Tags: author, author website, Authors, book marketing, book promotion, free websites, freebies, Marketing, sales, selling books
Posted by admin on Jan 5, 2009 in
Marketing,
books I came across an interesting post over at Author Marketing Experts, Inc. Penny C. Sansevieri writes about big success from sending out a simple postcard. We’re all looking for low-cost ways to market our books these days. Postcards with a basic design and a $.29 stamp could provide good results. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
I raced out to the office supply store the minute it opened to pick up several packs of clear labels. I got out the postcards I had printed with the book cover on them and stuck on labels with the following slogan:
Getting tired of the Presidential cliffhanger?
Try this one.
The Cliffhanger, a novel.
No politics involved.
I mailed 500 postcards out that day while praying the election wouldn’t get called. I mailed these postcards to everyone in the media I’d ever contacted. Ever!
Days after my mass-mailing, I was walking through my living room when suddenly I spotted my book cover on the screen. I was stunned. The local TV anchor was saying, “This has got to be the best thing I’ve ever seen. This lady wants you to go buy her book. I say everyone should rush out and buy it.” And everyone did. That afternoon my book shot up to the #1 spot on Amazon where it stayed for three months. It even beat out Harry Potter (which was #4 at that time) yet Harry got the movie. Go figure.
That single postcard shot my book up the ranks at Amazon and quite literally changed my life and the way I look at marketing. To this day, people in the industry still know me as The Cliffhanger lady. And I’m happy and proud about that.
So what can we learn from the success of this author?
* Good ideas don’t have to be expensive
* Authors are often the best marketers of their books
* It’s important to create a database of every person you know– especially contacts in the media
* Use big events in the media as a jumping off point.
This author used the postcard idea back in 2000. A lot has changed since then with more and more people using the Internet for book marketing. Would an e-newsletter have the same affect? Do you think a postcard could still have the same impact today?
Tags: book marketing, books, Marketing, sales
