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Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors–
eZine Issue #102 December 18, 2019
Publisher: Judith Briles
Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors
In This Issue
1. Author Tools … Discover new search tools
2. Holiday Gathering … it’s happening in 3 days
3. January program … it’s
all about kids
4. Webinars Replays … enjoy
5. Hot podcasts for DECEMBER & Replays … 4 to add to your calendar
6. Question of the Week …
7. Book Shepherd "Fun" of the Week … Critters Chorus
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This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s Roof:
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Hello and Good Publishing Day to
YOU.
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Oh my … what an amazing weekend here in Colorado. The Colorado Blvd. Barnes & Noble hosted many of our authors in an all-day book-signing marathon on Saturday. Fun, meeting new fans, and selling lots of books. Tomorrow, we head to the Westminster store for a repeat day. Love it that authors are getting better at engaging shoppers. One of my jobs is to get their attention and bring them to our tables. A long, but fun and rewarding day.
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Looking forward to this weekend with our annual author holiday gathering. The weather looks clear; temps reasonable—so a good day for any travel and get-togethers. I know lots of you are traveling—I promise, next year it will be much earlier in the month.
Suggestion to all: get some ribbon and do a wrap around your book—post on social media with insights … ahas … "whatever" to bring attention. Make suggestions for gifts for self and for others. Tis the season. Like this:
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Looking for some "writing juice" or just "inspiration" … my book, Snappy Sassy Salty is the perfect gift for SELF and for other writers and others. Just saying … Find it HERE.
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The end of the year always brings in lots of events and things to do. Add these to your calendar now. Details will all be posted under the Events tab on the website.
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1. December 19 - Barnes & Noble Book Fair from 9 to 6 (if you buy anything in the store, it will donate to the Authors Hall of Fame). Sheridan Ave. location in Westminster.
2. December 21 - Holiday gathering from 12.30 p.m. to ??? Yes, I’m the cooking and bring your spouse/partner. New this year: in addition to our annual wacko gift exchange, please bring a NEW, unwrapped toy or BOOK for any age—baby through teen. AuthorYOU will support the Chris Alexander Annual Toy Drive for Denver’s Children's Hospital. Member MaryJo Wagner serves as our "ELF" representative and will arrange delivery.
3. January 4 – Author Saturday Program – creating kids books (even if you write adult nonfction)/
4. January 11 – AuthorYOU Salons from 8.30 to 11.30 (plan forward)
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The January AuthorYOU Salon will be held on Saturday, January 11th – join me at my home—we call it Casa Quatar! All start at 8.30 am —we’ve moved the time up by popular demand!
The AuthorYOU Salons—if you are in Colorado—come for coffee or tea … it’s on me. It’s a perfect way to start your Saturday for author savvy and know-how.
Details HERE. https://www.meetup.com/AuthorYOUSalons/events/260321129/
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Want Tips for Authoring and Publishing? Tomorrow on the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast, visualize 2020 for social media strategies.
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| JOIN the new AuthorYOU …
If you don’t, it’s a publishing boo-boo. AuthorYOU promises its members a lot and delivers more. And wait ‘til you see the
bundle of goodies and discounts we are starting to post on the website for Members only. All will be up before the end of the month. Yup, it’s a good idea. Not a paid-up member?
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| And a heads up—hold the FIRST Saturday of each month for our live event meetings—
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Author Tools – Discover Search Tools
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| Wolfram | Alpha - A nifty knowledge search engine-here’s it’s boast: "We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything."
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In other words, you can analyze data, lookup IP addresses, compare stats of just about anything, get step-by-step instructions for how to help—a maze of information with a path to it. That’s a heck of a promise. Check it out at www.WolframAlpha.com
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Yippy – Thanks to IBM, this is the "Watson" backed Search Engine Compiler. www.Yippy.com
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| 2 It’s time for the Annual AuthorYOU Holiday Party in 3 days!
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Join your fellow authors for some fun, laughter, great food, interesting gifts, schmoozing and networking. No need to cook, Judith will have her chef hat on, and will be providing a buffet lunch. Of course, there will be plenty of wine and beer to go around.
Just bring an unmarked gift to exchange in the off-the-wall Wacko Pick and Steal after lunch.
If there are two in your party, bring two gifts so that everyone can leave with something. Be creative! The gifts tend to get wild and fun.
Date: Saturday, December 21st from 12:30 to 4:00
Location: Judith and John’s Home: 8122 S Quatar Cir, Aurora, CO 80016, USA
Gifts: We do an exchange–the Wacko Pick and Steal exchange to be exact; please keep your cost value to less than $20—hot items in the past: wine; nifty gadgets from Home Depot and Costco; sports stuff; movie tickets; goofy and quirky
can be fun … as long isn’t is not a clear reject from something past.
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Unwrapped Donation: Please bring a new toy or book for the Chris Alexander Xmas toy drive for the Children’s Hospital. Member MaryJo Wagner will be the delivering Elf to the kiddos. Collection box will be on the front porch.
Cost: $20 per person or $30 per couple
Register NOW please: https://authoru.org/events.html
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JANUARY 4, 2020 …
It’s about the Kids … Write and Publish a Children’s Book
Whether you are currently writing books for kids … or you hadn’t thought about it … January will kick off our Author Year of Possibilities. And why not start with books for kids? If you write for the adult reader, did you know that the book you have already written speaks to all ages when presented in another
format?
What message is in your book that children need to hear?
· Fantasy can be changed to be appropriate for all ages.
· Villains and Heroes softened for younger audiences.
· The plot and theme can be used to share life lessons
Because words change the world, you have an opportunity to change the lives of children. Changing your audience is simply talking to short people without big words.
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The Giving Tree- teaches about selfishness and selflessness
· Historical novels- teach about history (which our kids are not getting)
· Oh, the Places You Will Go- Can your novel teach about challenges
Your characters are already developed. By changing them to animals, dragons, trolls, or children- the novel takes a different approach
· Trolls are grumpy
· Butterflies are freedom
· An older child is a good mentor for the younger one reading
Stories for the younger crowd are from one point of view
· The cast of characters are fewer
· Much will be
shown in action
· Shorter pieces
of dialogue
Scenes you have written can be shortened and enhanced with illustrations. Children’s books have the same conflict, climax, and resolution that your novel has.
· The length of the conflict is sorter
· The black moment will be midway through
· The resolution
is longer because you will explain more at the ending
Most people think that you are dumbing down the story to write for children, but you are going to crank it up a notch.
· You must fit more content in fewer words.
· Every word must work harder to get the meaning across.
· Be
conscientious about word choice
Who should attend the January 4th program? Authors who are already writing for kids. Authors who have been thinking about writing for kids. Authors who didn’t think they could or just hadn’t thought about it beyond their current book.
Show up, have fun, and learn with the guidance of multi-bestselling, award-winning children’s and adult author, Lisa Reinicke.
When: Saturday, January 4, 2020
Where: Smokey Hill Library, 5430 S Biscay Circle, Centennial, CO 80015
Time: 9 am to Noon
Cost: $25 for AuthorYOU members, $35 for NonMembers. Price increases $ 10 on December 31st.
Register: https://authoru.org/events.html
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Slaying the Amazon Marketing Ad Dragon December 5th Replay
Have you ever wondered ...?
Have you ever wondered ...?
· How can I focus on writing and publishing instead of constantly promoting my books?
· How can I get consistent sales of full priced books full-priced just short-term spikes during promotions?
· How can my book stand out when there are SO many competing books on Amazon and it feels like pulling teeth to get sales?
· How do I get reviews and build my audience FAST if I'm starting from scratch?
· Where can I outsource the work I don't want to do?
Note: If you want 1,001 ways to market your book, this isn't for you.
If you want to 80/20 concepts, the 20% that leads to 80% of your results ... then you'll need to check out this free live training called Automatic Book Sales System we're doing Thursday, December 5th at NOON Mountain time.
Replay here:
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November 7th Replay
Audiobooks are booming in popularity, and they're only growing.
With so many people craving audiobooks these days, if you're not providing them, you could be losing out on extra royalties every month.
The cool thing is, unlike eBooks, it's not overly crowded so you stand a much better chance of having your books be seen and sold there.
I'm doing a free webinar training with Derek Doepker on how you can start profiting with audiobooks.
Creating Your Book Launch REPLAY of Tuesday, Nov 12
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Oh boy … It’s happening… your book has arrived, and your readers want to know. It’s grand news … but what do you do to kick it off? To bring attention?
How do you shout it out? What?
-Should you create an "event"?
-Should you do a social media campaign?
-Should you have a party?
-Should you do press releases?
-Should you do ….?
REPLAY here: https://vimeo.com/372844465
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| Hot podcasts slated for this month
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You can always listen in via our websites: www.AuthorYOU.org (click on the On the Air image on the Home page—wait for it to upload. Or www.TheBookShepherd.com (click on the Resources tab).
December 5 – Social Media Forward for 2020
– Aimee Ravichandran
December 12 – Why Radio Shows Hate Authors … and How to Change
That! – Wayne Kelly
December 19 – Foreign Rights and Getting Noticed Outside the US – Judy Klein
December 26 – Strategies to Make 2020 the Year of Your Vision – Judith Briles
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Question: I need help in translating for some of the global work I do. Any suggestions?
Answer: Glad you asked—the Google Translate app may be the perfect ticket for you. You can find it in the App stores and at Google Play. You can type to translate over 100 languages; copy and translate in
any app and "choose to translate" inside the app; you can even choose to on a two-way conversation with automatic language recognition by using the Conversation Mode. Lots more. Check it out. https://translate.google.com
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Book Shepherd "Fun" or an "Uh-Oh" of the Week
Love it when I find a fun shorty—a quick smile, a laugh out loud, a sip of tea … and
back to work—perfect. Love this: Love this: The critters add their voices to the Twelve days of Christmas!
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You can pick my brain … minimum time is 30 minutes. If you need one-on-one-time with me, I’m always open for a few minutes to give you some quick input. But, and it’s a BIG BUT, many call and expect far more than a few minutes.
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| Author Friendly Friday this week …
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Join Author Friendly Fridays: a fun, sharing and a dynamic closed group. You can join in the next week. It’s a full hour when you can ask questions—any question. And, I always include a few strategies to get your authoring life ahead of the competition.
It’s for paid subscribers ONLY and we do it on Zoom.
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This is how each call starts: I share a few strategies, tips and tools that attendees can immediately start to use. All share … and ask plenty of questions. They get answers. Definitely an excellent way to start a Friday. Those of you who aren’t participating, you are making a mistake. I love the variety of books and authors who have chosen to participate. What’s also fun, is the energy that can be felt with what everyone is working on. Love it!
Here’s the link to take advantage of it and subscribe: https://thebookshepherd.com/product/author-friendly-fridays-subscription
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And, if you have listened, support our podcast and post a review. Thank you!
The AuthorYOU – Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast is now heard on SEVEN podcast channels. How cool is that? Listeners can tune into the weekly (always new – no repeats) show on:
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That’s my author and publishing news for today … what’s yours?
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About Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd ™
Book Publishing expert Judith Briles, aka The Book Shepherd has shepherded more than 1,000 authors and created 500 best-sellers and award-winning books. She knows publishing inside and out from both the traditional and independent sides. Judith is an advocate for authors within her blogs, podcasts and speaking engagements. What’s her pet peeve? Two words: publishing predators.
She hosts the podcast AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing that generates over 100,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.
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