First Word

So let's talk book promotion and persistence and finding the "right" promotional channel. I recently had this discussion about best-selling books. We've had many books go No. #1 on Amazon over the years; but there is no formula for what promotional strategy works. Some publicists might say there is a cookie-cutter formula to going no. #1, and I'm here to tell you that is a load of "boo-rap" (new word for "crap" in publishing LOL). Boo-rap comes from shady publishers trying to sell inexperienced authors on high-priced publishing packages with false promises of going no. #1 based on their supposed concept. Want to hear how those publishers can make those false promises? They usually jerry rig Amazon by doing some promotion with their system by doing an in-house promotion that boosts sales just enough to make a book fly up the rankings. Is that a real best seller? Will the sales be sustainable? Because one-day rankings don't he...

I see Linked-In posts in the writer's and editor's groups, and sometimes the discussions inspire this blog. Today, one group asked whether or not you should read your own reviews. Let me start this by saying that I've never met a single author who doesn't read his/her reviews. Call it vanity, self-interest, or pure curiosity, but let's not act like we don't want to know what people are saying about our books. I'm certainly not going to act "above it all" here and say, "Nooooo, of course not!" LOL Okay, BUT here's the rub. When you read your reviews be prepared for whatever it says. Here's the even bigger piece of advice: whether good or bad, don't take it personally !!! Now, one problem with Amazon reviews are those reviewers who do take a run for the jugular and personally say nasty things about the author. In my "book" we don't call those folks reviewers! We call them HATERS!  When I released my first fic...

By Michelle Gamble, CEO, 3L Publishing What is the answer to that question? Poor writing Weak characters Uninteresting story Lack of pacing Would you believe the answer is “none of those things make a book fail?” Are you wondering what does make a book fail or (to rephrase it positively) what makes it a top-seller? The answer is cracker-jack public relations and marketing. P.T. Barnum put it best, “Advertising is to a genuine article what manure is to land – it largely increases the product.” In my estimation that is a crass way of saying (in book-ease), let people know you have a book and increase its sales. Books aren’t the same as selling widgets. You can advertise a widget pretty easily, and consumers caught up in the idea or the sensation or fad will invest their dollars. Readers though are interesting audiences to crack open. An advertisement for a book won’t convince a reader it’s any good. Book advertising will increase brand v...

In promoting numerous books over the years, here are a couple things that I've learned that "are what they are," so to speak. If the tipping point never arrives ... it just doesn't arrive and dumping more money and resources will not change that situation . I compare this to survey. If you survey 100 people and come up with an answer that is perhaps between 10-12 percent it doesn't matter if you survey another 1,000 people, your answer will still roughly be 10-12 percent. So if you're marketing and your book finally finds its place in the market and starts selling, it will continue to sell if you continue to promote. If you're marketing and your book has gotten 10 reviews with no momentum it's not very likely 20 reviews will be any different. The buying mood, the topic or story isn't resonating for whatever reason in the marketplace. When I have a book that has received more reviews than we can count and yet still sales remain overall flat (even ...

Good or bad press is always good press. Attention is, after all, attention and a spotlight on anything calls attention to it. I was reading a book review of another author's book. Now I know this book very well (and I'm not going to say the book to avoid "insult to injury"). I got extremely annoyed when the book reviewer, who was slamming the book, started making specific statements about the content. What's worse, the statements and the examples were not from the actual book. I was aghast to read the reviewer say the writing was bad, and then show examples that didn't come from the book! How can you say a book is poorly written and then use examples of why that aren't even from the material? If you're going to criticize something try being accurate. You can't say something is poorly written and then write something poorly written as an example that doesn't come from the source. I wasn't sure whether to laugh, mock the reviewer with a ...

Now bad reviews happen with books. Not everybody has the same tastes. Even some of my favorite books and movies get panned. In fact, a good "panning" is to be expected every now and again. What I am not fond of seeing are reviewers, who pan one of our books, and then turn around and question the validity of the positive reviews. I've seen this happen a number of times. It doesn't seem to be enough for the reviewer to say he or she didn't like the book and here's why. What doesn't work for me are those reviewers who not only dislike a book, but go out of their way to act indignant that the book received praise -- and of course, the praise must be faked! Even when there are professional reviews saying good things surely these were faked as well. The author bribed them or they are friends and family. If I hadn't seen this assertion more than once, I would not be bringing it up. Just because a reviewer doesn't like a book doesn't mean that everybod...