You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

My Two Cents on Book Sense

The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.
- Christopher Morley

Every two weeks for the last nine months I have written a marketing tip for this newsletter. Most of the tips are based on my own personal experience coupled with information, facts and expertise from marketing experts or from others in the creative fields.

I wanted to seize the opportunity this week to recognize the books and the authors who I have turned to time and again to help me write this column. I also wanted to make available, to all who are interested, information about the books I use the most, in case you are curious about gathering more marketing and promotional ideas.

Different books may tout the same techniques or ideas – but you may find you tend to like one author’s or expert’s style more than another’s. You may also find that you enjoy merging ideas, strategies and styles to create your own. That’s what I have found works best for me. This is also why I tend to draw ideas from so many different books.

I call my reliance on all kinds of books for ideas and techniques “book sense”. I devour books on writing and creativity and draw from many viewpoints, styles and expertise to help me formulate and grow my own. I do the same when it comes to marketing and promotion.

It makes sense to me to draw from as many resources as possible to get the most out of myself for myself. If an idea or method works for one person, I am always game to try it and tweak it to suit my style and my objective(s).

However, that doesn’t mean I get into action right away.

I do believe that some of the same things that hold some of us back as authors are the same things that can hold us back from self-promotion: procrastination, perfectionism and the inner critic.

Back in December, 2005 I wrote a marketing tip called One Small Step and followed it up two weeks later with Steppin’ On. The tips were about taking the first step – just a small step – towards marketing your book, and then, subsequently, adding on another step or two.

Personal experience combined with “book sense” helped me write those two articles. Sometimes, just thinking about promoting myself and my work is overwhelming. Dr. Robert Maurer’s One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way has helped me learn to break down the bigger picture, including my goals, into small, small steps. Once I was able to practice that technique, I could apply it to any marketing idea I wanted to garner results.

Another book I used for the same articles was The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence, by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

For inspiration, support, and tried-and-true ideas, I utilize The Nine Modern Day Muses almost all the time. Badonsky has updated the Muses of Ancient Greece into contemporary Muses who help you get started with things (Marge – who believes in breaking things down into 15-minute increments), try new things (Albert – who believes everything you do is relative to whether you think you can do it), and who help you believe in yourself and what you are doing (Muse Song and Arnold, the Bodyguard).

Badonsky’s book has helped me think out of the box when it comes to marketing. Albert, the Muse of imagination and innovation, has inspired me with humor, encouraged me to merge two old ideas, or two or more completely seemingly unassociated ideas, to create a new one, and to look at things and do things differently.

Because marketing takes time and money (both of which many of us authors have little of), thinking out of the box becomes essential. Lee Silber’s Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is an excellent resource, especially for coming up with and expanding upon off-the-beaten path marketing ideas: Ideas that use more brain than buck.

And speaking of lots and lots of bang for (mostly) less buck or for free, some of the best tips and strategies I have found have come from Guerrilla Marketing for Writers, by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman and Michael Larsen. I suppose I should be careful when I say “the best”. It really all amounts to style. I love the way Badonsky, Silber and the Levinson-Frishman-Larsen book are written. They’re fun with a hint of wacky and written in a more conversational spirit than most how-to books.

But how-to books that offer lots of structure help disorganized little-ol’-me, quite a bit!

One of my favorites is Get Clients NOW!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants by C.J. Hayden. Because I am such a procrastinator, the time-frame structure helps me. Deadlines always light a fire under my tush, and because I am also a perfectionist, I don’t want to be late and I don’t want to do a lousy job.

Some people have that built-in determined-to-get-what-I-want button, and others of us need a little bit more nudging. I’m more of the nudging variety, and that’s why Hayden’s book works well for me. I have utilized some of her suggestions in my marketing tips too.

Another book that I use as a regular go-to book is Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies. I have worked with the book’s author, Marilyn Ross, personally, and I can tell you the woman knows of what she speaks (or, really I should say, writes). Though the book is not geared towards authors, but entrepreneurs, many of its basic fundamentals apply to authors and book promotion. In a sense, all authors are entrepreneurs, really – so this book makes sense (it can be found in eBook format, by the way, at a very fabulous bookstore. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The DPPstore, www.dppstore.com).

Ross also has another book that I’d highly recommend: Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses.

Other books I reference are EBook Marketing Made Easy: 101 Great Ways to Promote and Sell Your eBook, by Rusty Fischer; and Guerrilla Publicity by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Jill Lublin.

Of course I also find all kinds of ideas from newsletters, such as Dan Poynter’s, Rick Frishman’s, Judy Cullins, and John Kremer. I also get them by typing key words into Google’s search engine.

I write this bi-weekly column in the hopes that I can share some of my experiences, thoughts and game plans with you- and yes, my style, my humor: me. This issue I am sharing where I find some of those resources that help me help you. But marketing and self-promotion inspiration, ideas and strategies come from everywhere. What I am offering here are but a few. Use them if you like and then go out there and find others that work for you just as well or even better.

That’s my two cents.

Nicky’s Book Sense List:

EBook Marketing Made Easy: 101 Great Ways to Promote and Sell Your eBook
By Rusty Fisher
Bookbooters Press, 2002

“EBooks have opened up a range of new possibilities for authors to get their work published. But how do you make your eBook stand out from the rest? How do you go about promoting your eBook so that it gains the recognition it deserves? Rusty Fischer, book marketing expert and bestselling author, gives you the answers in EBook Marketing Made Easy, a plethora of proven resources and advice that will help you to promote your eBook to the widest possible audience”

Rusty Fisher is a successful freelance writer, former magazine and book editor, and multi-published author.

Get Clients NOW!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants
by C.J. Hayden
Amacom, 1999

“C.J. Hayden's best-selling book is packed with road-tested tools and strategies to help you design an effective marketing plan, boost your enthusiasm for sales and marketing, and begin to dramatically increase your client base in just 28 days. Using C.J.'s reader-friendly cookbook approach, straightforward tips, and specific techniques, you will:
- Break out of "analysis paralysis" and determine exactly what you need to do first -- and every step of the way
- Find out what really works to market your own professional services... and what doesn't
- Overcome the fear, resistance, and procrastination that block effective action
- Create a customized, affordable, reusable, and realistic marketing plan”


Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work
by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman & Michael Larsen
Writer’s Digest Books, 2001

“The war begins before your book even hits the shelves, and you need every weapon you can get to beat back the competition. Guerilla Marketing for Writers puts an entire arsenal at your disposal. Packed with proven insights and advice, it details 100 ways to sell your work before and after it’s published. This wide range of “weapons”—practical low-cost and no-cost marketing techniques—will help you design a powerful strategy for strengthening your proposals, promoting your books, and maximizing your sales.”

Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, has sold more than one million guerrilla marketing books since 1984.
Rick Frishman is the president of Planned Television Arts, one of the top publicity firms in the book publishing industry.
Michael Larsen is a successful literary agent and the author of Literacy Agents and How to Write a Book Proposal.

Guerrilla Publicity: Hundreds of Sure-Fire Tactics to Get Maximum Sales for Minimum Dollars
By Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Jill Lublin
Adams Media, an F + W Publications Company, 2002
“Publicity is one of the most overlooked marketing tools. With a little information and training, it can be one of the most powerful marketing tools for any company, large or small.Guerrilla Publicity builds on the potential and wisdom of the best-selling Guerrilla Marketing Series with simple to use and easy to understand tips, tactics and resources to increase the effectiveness and profit potential of your business.”
Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, has sold more than one million guerrilla marketing books since 1984.
Rick Frishman is the president of Planned Television Arts, one of the top publicity firms in the book publishing industry.
Jill Lublin is an internationally acclaimed speaker on public relations and marketing topics. As CEO of the public relations strategic consulting firm Promising Promotion and founder of Good News Media, Inc. Jill hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, “Do the Dream.”

Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses
By Marilyn & Tom Ross
Communication Creativity, 1999

“Turn yourself into a book marketing master and make tens of thousands of extra dollars with the ideas in this one-of-a-kind resource. Get your books into catalogs, rack up lucrative bulk premium sales, and do author signings and radio interviews that get outrageous results. Find the secret to book promotion and generating tons of free publicity, then discover how to capitalize on it.”

Marilyn and Tom Ross -- authors, speakers, consultants, coaches -- are the champions of self publishing service. This internationally acclaimed team has helped thousands of authors sell millions of books. Marilyn also works as a publishing consultant. She accepts a limited number of ongoing coaching and hourly phone consulting clients. So, if you need help shaping a manuscript, advice on book printing issues, or assistance with a profit-making national book marketing campaign, contact her today!

The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence
by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.
The Penguin Group, 2001

“Jill Badonsky takes the nine classical Greek Muses and updates them for our time, personifying ten principles designed to overcome creative blocks and embrace the wonders of self-expression. Each Muse will take you on a journey and share with you:
- Empowering exercises to awaken creativity
- Brainstorming
- Muse rituals to inspire faith and confidence
- Muse Walks
- Spiritual affirmations
- Quotes from mortals who’ve been inspired by the Muses
- Journaling, and much more”

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is a creativity coach, workshop leader, artist, and marketing consultant who is the founder and director of the Muse Is In, an organization devoted to coaching, teaching, facilitating, and marketing workshops and retreats to awaken creativity.

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way
by Robert Maurer, Ph.D.
Workman Publishing, 2004

“Unleash the potent force of kaizen, the Japanese technique of achieving great and lasting success through small, steady steps…Kaizen works because it melts away resistance – in particular, the ‘fight-or-flight’ brain chemistry behind people’s underlying fear of change.
An expert on the art of success, Dr. Robert Maurer has helped countless people and businesses use kaizen to reach their objectives and maintain excellence. Distilling its secrets, Dr. Maurer shows not only how and why kaizen works, but how to make it work for you…how to realize ambitions by sidestepping any impediments…As one client succinctly put it, ‘the steps [are] so small I couldn’t fail.’”

Robert Maurer, Ph.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, a behavioral health instructor at the Canyon Ranch Health Spa in Tucson, Arizona, and runs The Science of Excellence, a consulting firm.

Self-Promotion for the Creative Person: Get the Word Out About Who You Are and What You Do
by Lee Silber
Three Rivers Press, 2001

“Everything you need to know about marketing yourself is included in this book. Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is packed with proven techniques that will work for you whether you are an author, actor, artist, or accordion player who wants fresh, off-beat, and cost-effective ways to build a business or develop a successful and fulfilling career…
- How to market without money
- How to create marketing materials that will sell you even when you’re not around
- How to build a buzz using word of mouth
- How to use the internet in ways you never thought of to promote yourself
- How to get the leaders in your field to endorse and help you”

Lee Silber, author of Time Management for the Creative Person and Career Management for the Creative Person, is an accomplished graphic artist, drummer, workshop leader, and radio talk-show host and is the founder of five companies, including CreativeLee Speaking.

Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies: 307 Awesome Money-Making Strategies for Savvy Entrepreneurs
By Marilyn Ross
Communication Creativity, 2000
“With Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies you'll learn how to combine estrogen with entrepreneurship for revolutionary success (even if you’re a man)!
The material covers everything from generating free publicity (then truly profiting from it) to advertising on the cheap—from forming strategic alliances to capitalizing on nontraditional sales channels.”

Marilyn Ross, who has been called a "trend tracker" by Entrepreneur magazine, has written or co-authored 13 books. Her Big Ideas for Small Service Businesses was selected as one of the 30 best business books of the year by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. In Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies she again preaches about what she practices.

Nicky’s Newsletter/Tips Sense List:

Judy Cullins
http://www.bookcoaching.com/ezine.shtml

Rick Frishman
http://www.rickfrishman.com/newsletter.html

John Kremer
http://www.bookmarket.com/tips.html

Dan Poynter
http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/